Hunting for Freedom, Book One: Deserter
by Dejah
Summary: Riddick meets a woman with a dangerous past and an uncertain future. She leads him into a world where speech isn't always outloud and the people you meet may be part of a bigger picture. Book One in the Hunting For Freedom Trilogy. Finished. Please R&R.
1. Rain

****

1. Rain

Riddick stalked panther-like around the cryo-locker. There was a woman inside, sleeping silently. The minute he'd boarded the passenger ship for a five day flight to one of the moons hovering around Saturn he'd been drawn to the prisoner.

The merc that had caught her didn't much care what happened to his prisoner, and didn't check on her often enough to know Riddick was interested. The cryo-locker wasn't a part of the ship; instead it was a separate unit, run on a small generator. 

Easy enough to disconnect, Riddick found himself thinking, continuing to circle the tank. The woman inside was dressed differently than most. The fabric looked usual, but the cut and design was from somewhere else.

Her black leather pants were cut to hang low on her hips and well below her navel. The waistband went all the way around her hips but the actual sides were cut into large V's that revealed the skin halfway down her thighs. Her top looked to be some usual cotton blend tank top, with thin shoulder straps, and was cut short, revealing more skin. Heavy duty black boots with buckles around the leg and foot, encased her feet. The toe had wire mesh around it, akin to that of armor.

He couldn't smell her through the tank, which unnerved him slightly, because he wanted to get a handle on her.

Her back was out of sight, but he could make out tattoos on both her hips. Something that looked like initials on the right and another shape he couldn't quite make out through the slightly-foggy, bullet-proof glass.

Her hair was long and black and fell well below her waist in tight curls. Dark complexion and a number of silver bracelets were around her wrists, along with her handcuffs. She looked to be about five foot seven, slim build, well toned. He could see the definition of muscles even through the cryo-locker's glass walls. Infinitely intriguing, he mused.

He circled to her left and had the sudden feeling of being watched. His eyes jumped to her face and he saw that the corner of her mouth had lifted slightly, taunting him. It was a sardonic twist to her lips and he knew something was wrong.

With lightening quick speed he whipped around the locker and checked the generator. Still going, he noticed. But when he looked back at the woman her eyes were open and she was looking directly at him. Instead of looking startled, she smiled slowly and stretched in her confined space, lifting her hands over her head flexed her muscles, throwing them into sharp relief.

Riddick gazed at her curiously, once again circling the locker, watching her, his silver eyes locked on her as she moved within her prison.

The monitor next to the tube hadn't changed. The readings showed that she was still sleeping. Her heart rate slow and her brain waves ticking ever so slightly, showing little activity. He could see she was very much awake, as she drew one slim finger over the glass, drawing circles in the thin vapor clouding the wall.

The woman smiled at him again and then pointed over his shoulder to the door, then she lifted her finger to her lips. Then suddenly all life seemed to leave her and she fell back against the slightly padded and reclined back wall of the cryo-locker, apparently asleep.

Riddick's ears caught the slight sound of boots on metal and he realized she'd been warning him that someone was coming, as well as asking him to keep quiet. He jumped up and grabbed some of the piping above his head and swung himself into the air above the floor.

The bounty hunter entered the small room to check on his prisoner. He studied her vital signs, and finding them normal, left. He never noticed Riddick, poised above him.

Noiselessly, Riddick dropped to the floor and gazed at the beautiful woman. Her eyes had been emerald green, a startling contrast to her dark complexion and hair. Her eyes shot open and she gazed at him again before laying back against her wall and going to sleep.

------

Rain felt the man outside her cryo-locker. He was curious about her, she could feel it. He stalked about her like a wild animal, drawing close and then fading back slowly, measuring her up.

She allowed a small smile to wryly twist her lips, knowing he'd notice even that small a movement. He did. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at him. He gazed back silently, and she flicked her eyes over his, seeing the glowing silver orbs glistening back at her.

__

Interesting, she thought. _He's been shined_. He continued to stalk around her as she stretched languorously in her tiny cell. She watched him.

When she felt her captor coming towards them she pointed over his shoulder and smiled, then placed her finger to her lips, trusting he'd keep quiet about seeing her awake. Then she fell back against the padded wall behind her and feigned sleep once more. When she felt the merc had gone she opened her eyes and smiled at the large man before letting herself sleep once more.

------

Riddick sat at the table with the other crew members and passengers, silently eating his meal. It was a nasty, gray gruel, but apparently provided every sort of nourishment the body needed. That's all he cared about. 

Everyone on board had quickly learned he wasn't interested in conversation and they left him alone. They gave him a wide berth when they passed him, and none bothered to sit too close to him when they all ate together.

Done, he left the mess deck and headed for the woman. He wanted to see if she was awake again, although he couldn't explain why.

When Riddick entered the room, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. He lifted a questioning eyebrow, feeling that somehow she was asking him a question. He couldn't explain it, but he knew she was.

__

Where are we? she seemed to ask him, stretching once more in her glass cage.

He didn't know how to answer her, he didn't even know how he knew she was asking him a question. 

"Some moon around Saturn," he answered out loud. She seemed to understand him, because she nodded slowly, a frown spreading across her face.

"What is this?" he asked her.

__

You don't have to speak, you know, was the only reply he got.

Deciding to try her, he projected a thought. _You can hear this?_

She nodded again.

Riddick didn't like this. He didn't like to talk and he liked less the fact that he even though he was quiet, she could hear him.

__

He's coming, she told him silently and went limp in her tube. 

Hating himself for not hearing the merc, he jumped back up into his hiding place in the ceiling. The man seemed to come in this same time everyday, so Riddick made a mental note not to show up at that time anymore.

The woman didn't react to him when he lowered himself to the floor once more. Not so much as a twitch. He tried to ask her who she was but she ignored him.

Feeling angry, and more than a little frustrated, Riddick left.

------

****

THUD!

Riddick awoke with a start as something slammed into the side of the ship, threatening to throw him from his cot. He stood up and headed for the main deck.

The crew was frantically trying to realign the axis of the ship as something continued to bombard them.

"Shit! I can't get the numbers straight, Walker," one of the crew members cried from his position at one of the control consuls.

A man, that was apparently Walker, stumbled across the rapidly shifting deck to his shipmate. "Well, get the damn numbers straight, or we're gonna crash on one of these moons out here and God knows how long it will take to get airborne again."

Riddick felt instant deja vu overcome him at the prospect of being thrown on another dusty, deserted planet. Something akin to panic rose in his throat and he swallowed, forcing it back down.

Another missile slammed into the ship's hull and Riddick lurched against the door, barely catching himself.

"Oh, God, Walker, we're going down fast!" someone else cried. 

Riddick could see that they were rushing full speed towards one of the moons of Saturn, but on the wrong side of the damn planet. Where he wanted to be was no where near where they were crashing.

"Tell me we're landing somewhere populated," the merc, who'd just appeared behind Riddick, stated irritably.

Riddick felt the same need echoed in his mind. _And not by endomorphs_, he pleaded silently.

"Yeah. Fairly large settlement. Are we getting this thing under control, people?" Walker asked.

They slowed the decent with skill and landed with a shake on the lush moon. 

After sliding through the dirt and trees for about twenty miles and losing a good portion off the back end of the ship, they came to a complete stop.

When Riddick realized the back of the ship was gone he knew the woman was gone, too. Whether she was dead or not was a different story.


	2. Rhea

****

2. Rhea

Rain lay completely still in the now-cracked cryo-locker. The generator had been torn off the minute her glass prison had been flung out the back of the ship and now nothing would keep her asleep. Except, maybe, her throbbing head, which had met with an unfortunate accident consisting of a thump against the glass.

The sun was magnified by the curved glass and the small tube began to heat up like a cylindrical oven.

With a groan and a twist, Rain woke up slowly. There was a large crack in the tube, highlighted by blood. She lifted her hand to her head and touched it, feeling the warm, sticky blood against her fingers. She groaned again. The crack, along with the good sized hole her head had created, had weakened the glass and she decided if she was going to get out of here, that was her ticket.

Twisting so she was facing the crack directly, she lifted her legs up to her chest, she rocked back on her shoulders, thrusting her feet upwards as hard as possible and smashing the glass with her boots. A few pieces broke away and fell on her. She brushed them away with one cuffed hand and began thumping on the glass with her boots again until a good sized hole opened up for her.

Rain crawled out of the tight hole, scratching her arms in the process, wishing she'd made the hole bigger before squeezing through. "Damn," she groaned as she looked back the way the ship had come and in the direction it had slid. She was somewhere in the middle of the crash path, pieces of the ship debris littering the way behind and ahead.

__

This has gotta be some sort of cruel joke, she thought unhappily as she began hiking towards the ship. She knew it couldn't be the best idea, considering the fool who'd captured her would be there, but she might be able to find the mystery man who'd studied her like a predator before the ship had taken a nose dive.

Glad she'd been caught wearing a tank top instead of a leather shirt, like she usually did, she hiked along at an easy pace, often picking up speed and trotting wolf-like along the path.

After about three or four miles she began to run in earnest, the sun having set low enough on the horizon that the heat wasn't getting to her, but it was getting cold. Running to catch up to the ship, and to keep warm, she flew at an amazing speed, her military training keeping her from getting tired.

When she was too cold to move and the sky was completely dark, Rain left the crash path and slid into the forest, feeling out the direction with her senses. She found a heavy bed of soft plants she couldn't name and curled up in them, drawing them over her skin for warmth. She shuddered until she fell asleep, and even that couldn't alleviate her convulsions.

The sun rose again the next morning and Rain groaned at the throbbing in her head and the stiffness in her limbs. Years of training and she still woke up groaning after a night on the ground. The intense cold hadn't helped any. 

She wondered what moon she was on. There we at least fourteen that she knew of, maybe more that they'd found by now. Keeping the names straight was a chore.

She started walking again, trying to remember all the names in order to keep her mind occupied.

Titan, Telesto, Calypso, Tethys, Rhea, Phoebe. . . she paused in her musing. Phoebe. _What a dumb name for a moon_. Pan, Atlas, Dione, Enceladus. . . That was only nine. Damn, she thought. How to pick one of those?

She could make out another moon drifting around, it was very close. She decided she had to be on Rhea or Dione, considering they were sister moons. It would explain the second satellites close proximity.

Rain rubbed her sore wrists and picked up the pace. She'd traveled about ten miles the previous day and could probably reach the ship in an hour or so. Her mind drifted back to the man. He hadn't pointed out the fact that she'd been awake. She was never knocked out when in cryo-sleep. She tried to make her brain cooperate but she couldn't. The rest of her body would work the way it was supposed to. Not aging and not needing food, but her mind stayed awake and she kept mobility. Sometimes she hated her brain.

One time, she'd been fully awake for six months in a cryo-chamber. Of course she slept harder than usual in cryo-sleep, but for the most part she's been completely aware. She'd sworn to herself she'd die of boredom. At least the other passengers dreams had kept her occupied. If she focused hard enough she could slip into their dreams and toy with them. She'd run into a lot of nut cases on her travels. Her fellow soldiers had the craziest nightmares. Some of the stuff they cooked up, or remembered seeing, was damn right scary. She often found herself pulling out of those folks' head right quick.

She'd seen enough black things to want to keep away from her own nightmares. She didn't need anyone else's paranoid delusions haunting her head and giving her overactive brain any ideas for later dreams.

So, with the sun beating down on her back and her thick hair baking her head, neck, and shoulders, Rain wished her namesake would pour down from the heavens, or someone would bring her a glass of water. She was thirsty.

A half hour later, mouth cotton dry, Rain stopped suddenly in her tracks and stared up at the unforgiving sky. A wet drop fell on her shoulder, and then another. With a half grin twisting her full lips, Rain opened her mouth, and collapsed.

------

Riddick's head shot up. The crew and passengers hadn't wanted to leave the ship until they could figure out what moon they were on and how far from Titan, Saturn's largest moon and their destination, they were.

He'd already figured they were on Dione or Rhea, one of the sister moons, by the closeness of the moon that he could see circling them. He hadn't felt the need to tell anyone of his suspicions though, and they didn't ask him what he thought.

Walker was stalking authoritative-like around his crew, pointing at different areas of star maps of Saturn. They concluded it was Rhea they were on.

But that's not what had caught his attention. He could feel someone, and they were close. A half mile, maybe. Rain began to splatter across the ground in large, heavy drops and he glanced up at the sky, quickly wishing he hadn't when the sun burnt his eyes, even through his goggles.

Clouds had driven in on a hot wind and they furled and twisted angrily, shooting out bolts of heat lightening and howling with thunder.

He knew it was the woman. She was tracking them. They'd all gotten back in the ship when the sun had set, trying to escape the freezing cold, and he'd decided that if the crash hadn't killed her, the cold would. Now he knew he'd been wrong.

The rain began to come down harder and the sun became muted by the clouds that raged above them. Riddick slipped from his perch atop the ship and headed in the direction of the woman.

He quickly felt himself getting closer to her and was soon able to pick up an alien scent he was sure was hers. Salty and definitely female. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and within a few moments he'd spotted her.

She was laying on her face in the dirt, which in the rain had become mud. He trotted over to her silently and hunkered down on his haunches, not touching her, but once again studying her silently. She was alive, which was a miracle all on its own, especially considering she was probably drowning in the two inch deep mud.

He tangled a hand in her wet hair and lifted her face from the ground. She gasped and coughed but didn't wake up. Wondering why he even bothered with her, Riddick swung her up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and headed back to the ship.

He wasn't sure he should let the merc know he'd gotten a hold of his prisoner, but he didn't really feel the need to protect her from whatever fate awaited her on Titan.

With a self-deprecating shrug, he merely continued to the ship. Whatever happened from there, happened. It wasn't his place to worry about it.

------

Another headache is what Rain woke up to.

She was in another bed of ferns, but the sun was still high in the sky and the rain had stopped, leaving everything wet and fresh smelling.

She shifted and then held deathly still when she spotted her mystery man watching her from the base of a huge tree. 

His begoggled eyes left a tingling feeling on her skin and she could feel them burning into her intently. She stared back, her emerald eyes flashing.

Riddick felt a strange sensation creep across his neck, like fingers drifting over his skin, or breath sliding over his flesh.

She was looking at him intently, her emerald eyes flashing curiously at him. She didn't seem frightened.

__

You found me, she said silently.

He felt uncomfortable with her ability, but nodded.

__

And you didn't turn me in? she asked.

Riddick shook his head.

She sent him another of those little half smiles, like she knew something he didn't, and laid back on the ferns he'd placed her on.

When he'd gotten close to the ship he'd stopped, uncharacteristically indecisive.

Then, deciding he wanted to know more of her, admitting to himself that he was slightly intrigued, he'd hid her and returned to the ship. No one had noticed he'd left and they were all going to stay another night.

The merc had been more than upset at the loss of his prisoner. He'd apparently been tracking her for more than a year and she was worth a hefty amount. A deserter, he'd said. Left her unit high and dry without a word to the commanding officer. She had a superiority complex, records showed. That had made a grin pull at his lips. He remembered well that classification by Slam's shrink.

Now, he could practically feel her scaling the layers of his mind and he didn't like it. He should ghost her, he told himself. Get her out of the way. No one would miss her, she was a con. He knew no one would miss him if he disappeared, except for Jack, maybe. But the shaved kid didn't count.

"Who are you?" he asked out loud.

She turned, as if he'd startled her out of some sort of reverie.

"Rain," was all she said. Her voice was low, throatier than he'd have expected.

He cocked his head. "Last name?"

"Cloud," she said, her lip curling sadistically.

He sneered. "Cute."

She shrugged and closed her eyes, rolling away from him. Most people had more sense than to turn their back on him and he felt a need to make her afraid of him. He wondered what it would take to make her scream in fear of him.

Also shrugging, he closed his eyes and leaned back against his tree, his fingers playing over the shiv he held in his hand.

"Your name?" 

Her question didn't startle him. He'd known it was coming. 

"Riddick," he answered, not bothering to open his eyes.

"First name?" she asked.

"Have one."

He could almost feel the sadistic grin twisting her lips again. He twisted his back, eyes still closed.

The leaves rustled from her direction and his eyes flew open behind the goggles. She was gone. He stood up quickly and looked around, trying to feel her out with his senses, but somehow she was evading him and he couldn't feel her at all. She was either long gone or able to hide real well. He didn't pick either one or the other, but did head back to the ship. He was sure that wasn't the last he'd heard of Rain.


	3. One By One

****

3. One By One

She was near the ship. He knew she hadn't slept outside again. She'd crept in when the sun had set and laid in one of the empty rooms. When the sun had risen, she'd slipped out again, unnoticed by anyone. Except him.

And Riddick knew she'd felt him, too. His dreams had been foggy, but she'd haunted them, that little sadistic smile curling her full lips. She'd asked him questions, but he hadn't answered.

He wondered what she'd seen, sneaking into his head the way she had. He knew it had been more than a dream, and he hadn't hovered in it long before shaking himself awake. He'd escaped her weird ability, but he knew she wouldn't leave him alone.

They were leaving for Rhea's settlement in an hour. Rain was either out of his range or hiding again. He knew that's what she'd done the night before. Clouded his senses with whatever mind tricks she used. He didn't like it and half wished he'd ghosted her when he'd had the chance, despite her intriguing ways.

An hour later, Riddick had his duffel bag thrown over his shoulder and was hiking through Rhea's heavy forestry towards the city.

He was walking towards the front of the line and sent out feelers, looking for the woman. He knew she had to be near, but she wasn't letting anything on to anyone, even him.

About an hour into the hike, there was a whoosh of air from the back of the line and Riddick felt it. No one else seemed to notice and he stepped out of the line, letting everyone walk by him. The people didn't look at him as they passed, and as the last straggler stumbled by he noticed the merc was gone.

He lifted his head and felt for the man. The scent of death filled his nostrils and he felt Rain's proximity just enough to know it was her. She'd gotten the merc. He began hiking back the way they'd come, drawn to her uncontrollably. He didn't find her, but he did find the merc's corpse in the underbrush. There was a bruise around his neck, and Riddick guessed it was from Rain having wrapped the chain of her cuffs around the man's throat and dragging him off into the trees.

The merc's head was twisted at a strange angle on his shoulders. Rain has snapped his spine, removed him from the equation. Less chance of her getting captured again, now. She had to be strong to have done that to the large man, but he'd known that she was exactly that. And she was a predator.

Riddick lifted the blade the man carried strapped to his leg, and stuffed it in his bag. He searched the man's prone body, and finding nothing else of use, jogged to catch up with the others. He heard a slight rustle in the trees above him and knew she was following from above. _Graceful little bitch_, he thought. _And dangerous, too. Bad combination for a man on the run._

------

The group had stopped and Rain perched herself high in a tree, looking down at them. She knew Riddick had heard her above him when he'd found the merc, and she'd let him. Once again he hadn't turned her in, but now everyone was looking nervous, having discovered that a fellow passenger was gone.

"What happened to him?" a young crew member, that went by the name of Max asked. He had nervous, shifty eyes and a wiry build. His thin, dirt colored hair stuck up all over his head in half-hazard spikes, and he ran his grimy fingers through it often.

She could tell by Riddick's body language that he was distancing himself from the rest of the crash victims, sitting away from them and turning his eyes away from the fire they'd started.

Walker, the apparent captain of the group, glanced up from his meal of beans to look at Max. "Wandered off the trail. Got lost. Doesn't really matter, 'cause the guy was a shady character anyway. We should all be glad he's gone."

She waited for Riddick to say something, but he didn't. Instead he eyed his beans and jerky thoughtfully then took a long draw from his water canteen.

A pretty young blonde spoke up. "I think that prisoner of his got 'im," she said. She had a thick Australian accent and soft blue eyes. Rain decided if this had been a less hospitable place, the girl would be dead by now. 

Rain rubbed her sore wrists absently. The merc had been holding the keys and she'd lifted them off of him before Riddick had arrived, but she hadn't had time to get his blade, and that pissed her off. What made her even more angry was the fact that Riddick had noticed the sweet knife as well, and had stuffed it in his bag before heading off again. She forced an angry growl back down from her lips as she studied them. 

She salivated over the canned beans and wished she could get her hands on some, knowing she couldn't with all of the people that were parked around the fire.

Walker rose from his seat and dished some more beans into his tin bowl. Rain licked her lips. "I don't think so. That little girl got thrown out the back of the Ring Cruiser at quite a speed, and her tube would have to have been made of some sort of super glass to sustain that sort of drop. She wasn't dangerous enough looking to be put into one of those high security jobs."

A sneer pulled at Riddick's lips at that. She knew he understood her better than them. He had the look of a killer, too.

Keeping herself hidden from Riddick was taxing, and she felt herself slump drowsily against the tree's thick trunk. A leaf tickled her shoulder and she grabbed at it, ripping it away from its limb. She held it to her nose and sniffed. Didn't smell poisonous or toxic. Rain wondered how it would taste and decided she didn't care. She closed her eyes and bit it.

The bitter taste flooded her mouth and she fought to keep from spitting it out as she chewed. Two leafs and one nasty taste later, Rain gave up her vegetarian meal and draped her body in such a way that she could relax against the tree with her eyes closed and not worry about falling out of the branches if she fell asleep. The promise of more injuries on a high speed trip to the forest floor was not a nice one.

__

God, I'm hungry, she thought. _Thirsty, too_.

Riddick felt a tingle of awareness and the thought that he was thirsty entered his head. He didn't feel thirsty though. He took a swig from his canteen and looked around. The feeling he got whenever Rain was projecting a thought to him was tickling his senses.

She was close, real close.

Walker was going on about how he knew that Rain couldn't have lived.

A passenger named Clyde looked around the group slowly. "I think it was her, too," he stated, trying to sound important. "She didn't look all that helpless to me. You can never underestimate her type. You heard what Rick said; she was a deserter. She knocked off guards in her own faction to get away from the military on her planet."

"Do you think they were a Ranger group?" the young blonde asked.

"Don't be stupid, Anne. No one gets away from the Rangers and lives. They're part of the Company. That's one prison no one can escape from." Walker stated.

Another sneer from Riddick. Sure you could. But you'd regret it. The Company would come looking for you if you left. He began to wonder if she'd been a Ranger, too.

Female Rangers were uncommon, but not unheard of. He'd even met a few that were good at what they did. Killing. He could see Rain had it in her, and killing the merc had only strengthened his belief that she was just as dangerous as he'd thought. Being a Ranger would explain the efficiency of the bounty hunter's death.

"Let's say it was her," another crew member insisted. Riddick recognized him as the one screaming at Walker that he couldn't get the numbers straight when they'd began their crash towards Rhea. "She could be anywhere right now and we'd never know it. She could start picking us off, one by one."

The thought had crossed Riddick's mind more than once. He wasn't worried about himself, or the others particularly, but that didn't mean he wanted some AWOL military freak trying to ghost him. Especially one he had trouble keeping a solid beat on.

The blonde nodded enthusiastically, and murmurs from the rest of the group, loudest Max and Clyde, joined in.

"So what do you fools want to do?" Walker demanded furiously. "You wanna go on some wild hunt through the woods and try to find her before she supposedly kills us all?" He shot an angry look at the latest speaker. "Is that what you want, Biggs?"

The man shrugged while the others shifted nervously, suddenly finding something of great interest in their tin bowls or near their shoes that needed their undivided attention.

Walker made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a hurumph and sat down haughtily. Riddick grinned. If she was hearing this, she might decide to start picking them off for spite. He knew he might be happy to do the same.

When the Hunter-Gratzner had crashed and he'd escaped the first time, he'd been inclined to pick them off and escape alone. Until Fry had convinced him to go back for Jack and Imam, he'd been getting ready to take off alone with a grin on his face.

Deciding to give something a try, he projected a thought. _Where are you, Rain? _he whispered mentally, wondering if his sarcastic tone could be projected in mental speak as well as out loud.

Rain jerked awake. She thought she'd heard Riddick's taunting voice asking her where she was.

She stretched and yawned silently and looked down at the group. They were whispering about her tensely. They thought she was going to start picking them off. The thought had occurred to her, and had been a bit of a pleasing one. Just a few to keep them scared of her, she told herself wryly.

__

Where are you hiding, Rain? Riddick's mental voice shattered her calm and she shifted her eyes to him. He was studying the brush around him, looking for her.

She lifted the mental cloud she used to keep him from finding her and watched as his eyes immediately focused on her spot in the trees.

Rain eyed him curiously and swung down a few branches, knowing he would pick her up instantly. She was right. _What makes you able to do that? _she asked.

He lifted a questioning brow. _What?_

__

Talk back. Most people can't send back unless I initiate contact.

__

Sixth sense, he shrugged.

She projected a mental shrug back at him. _Doesn't really matter. You can only find me if I let you, or if something happens where I lose complete control._

__

Like when you passed out in the storm. It wasn't a question.

__

Yes.

Riddick stood and she watched him leave the circle of light that the others were crowding in. She followed him with her eyes as he started heading for the woods, then suddenly he was under her tree and lifting himself up into the bottom branches.

Rain stared at him as he climbed up to her and perched beside her.

__

Nice view, he told her, seeing she had a bird's eye view from her perch.

She shrugged nonchalantly. He liked that she didn't talk much. He wondered why he didn't ghost her on the spot, though. He decided it was because he was intrigued by her, differently than he had been by Fry, but intrigued all the same.

She watched the people below them silently

__

I could, you know, she said suddenly.

He looked at her. _Pick them off? _he asked.

She nodded.

__

Who'd you do first? he questioned.

__

I already did him, she answered, flashing him a feral grin.

__

Makes sense, he agreed, knowing she meant the bounty hunter. 'He wanted to find you and would have convinced the others to help. Without him, both threats eliminated. Who next?'

She pointed to Walker. _He's alpha male, now. Without him, they're headless chickens. Easy pickin's._

__

My thoughts exactly. Nice to know we think along the same lines.

"Same cloth," she murmured, this time out loud.

Riddick was slightly startled by her voice and shot her a look. She just twisted her lips at him and began to lower herself towards the ground.

__

What are you doing? he asked, starting to appreciate the silent talk she used with him. Mostly because the others couldn't hear what was said.

"I think I'm going to scare them," she answered, once again using her normal speaking voice.

He followed but when he reached the ground she was already creeping towards the group silently. She reached his bag and he watched her pull the merc's blade from its depths.

Rain pulled the knife from its sheath and studied the wickedly curved blade. This would be fun, she thought sadistically, and headed for Walker.


	4. The Thrill Game Begins

****

4. The Thrill Game Begins

Walker looked around the circle of passengers and crew and noticed the big guy was gone. He disappeared a lot, and that made Walker nervous. A man that size, that quiet, and that prone to disappearance was something to worry about.

Rick, the merc, had vanished without a trace while they'd been hiking, and everyone suspected his prisoner. There was no way the girl could have lived though, not after being tossed out the back of the Ring Cruiser during the crash. 

Walker found himself being nervous all the same though, and scanned the trees for either the big guy, who called himself Richards, or the woman prisoner.

He felt she was out there, and it scared him.

------

Rain crouched low just outside the range of firelight, the curved blade drawn. Walker was looking suddenly nervous and shifty, his eyes blazing a path back and forth across the other people scattered around the fire.

She grinned and felt Riddick approach from behind, his face turned slightly away from the light.

__

You gonna kill him? he asked. He didn't care one way or another, but he was curious.

__

No. . . Not yet anyways. You better make yourself scarce. They might blame anything I do on you, and since you're such interesting conversation, I'd hate for that to happen. Her sarcastic tone wasn't lost on him, but he didn't care.

He was going to say something else when she slid away silently, not making a sound in the brush. She crept up behind Walker, and Riddick climbed back up into the tree, watching curiously.

She was directly behind Walker now and Riddick locked his eyes on her as she wrapped one arm around the man's neck and pulled him back. He let out a choked yelp before he was suddenly silenced.

Max and Clyde leapt towards the place Walker had been in, but he was gone, and so was Rain.

Riddick decided this was when he should make an appearance and leapt from the tree silently. He pulled his goggles tight over his eyes and slid into the circle.

"What's happening?" he called out to Max and Clyde. 

They shot him matching, frightened looks.

"Walker!" Max squeaked. "He's gone! It must be that merc's prisoner!"

Riddick new damn well what was happening, but he knew they wouldn't suspect him of anything since he'd appeared from the other side of the fire.

"Help us find 'em!" Clyde called.

Riddick shrugged and figured he'd make a show of looking for the man. They crept into the dense foliage, Max and Clyde trying to look like they knew what they were doing, but making a heap of noise.

A sneer twisted Riddick's lips as he slid along silently beside them. Rain was close. She wasn't hiding herself from him now, and he felt her excitement, smelled the pheromones surging inside her. She liked the thrill. 

------

At that same time, Rain had Walker on his back in the bushes. She was straddling his chest, flashing the blade wickedly. She drew an imaginary line across his throat.

"I could kill you so easily," she whispered, leaning in close so her hot breath brushed against his ear. She lifted her face away from him and then slid close again, bringing her mouth close to his other ear. "Are you afraid of me?"

Walker shook beneath her and nodded sharply. Her throaty laugh filled his ears as he felt the knife, the one he recognized as the merc's, drift threateningly across his skin. He stared up at her, paralyzed. He could feel an unbridled fear searing his mind. He could hear her in his head, laughing at him, threatening him, showing him things that scared him shitless.

Riddick had slid away from the others, claiming that if he split up from them, they would find Walker faster. They'd agreed readily and he'd headed in Rain's direction.

He watched her toy with Walker, letting the blade glide along his flesh. The man looked like he wanted to wet himself for fear of her. 

__

I'm in his head. Her mental voice crept into his thoughts.

__

What are you doing to him? he asked. The man was shaking so hard the brush about him was shuddering.

Suddenly images of all sorts of freaky looking things flooded his head. He saw endomorphs, like the ones from the crash, blood, death, heard screaming in his ears. The sound of tearing flesh ripped through his mind and he felt fear, sharp and biting, grab his chest in its hands and squeeze. Then the images stopped.

Walker screamed, but Rain muffled it with her hand. "Shhh. . ." she breathed against him. "Do I seem helpless now?" she asked.

"God no! No! Please, no more!" he cried, weeping like a small, frightened child.

A disgusted look crossed Rain's beautiful features and she pressed the blade against Walker's cheek. "Now, keep this is mind. I could end you, right here and right now. I want you to remember this moment," she growled into his ear. Then she slid the blade, fast and hard, along his cheek, slicing it wide open. It bit into his flesh from just below his left eye to the edge of his jaw.

Walker yelped and screamed as she cut him, and then she was gone, bringing the knife with her.

Her words, "I want you to remember this moment," echoed through Riddick's mind. He'd said that same thing to Johns when he'd ripped the shotgun from the man's hands and held it on him, staring down at him.

The images she'd sent him haunted his mind. He could feel a trickle of sweat racing down the center of his back as he remembered the terrible things she flooded his head with. He wondered if she'd seen all those things, all those people, heard all those screams. It was enough to make anyone break out into a cold sweat. Even a bad ass con like himself. 

Walker still lay silent on the ground, his breathing labored. Blood streamed down his face in rivulets and Riddick stalked over to him, pretending to have just found him.

He helped the shaking man to his feet. "Walker," he barked sharply, shaking the man.

Walker blinked at him stupidly and lifted his hand to his face, touching the blood. He brought his fingers away from his cheek and stared at the dark crimson staining his fingers.

"I'm bleeding," he mumbled dazedly.

"What happened?" Clyde called as him and Max came crashing through the brush towards them. 

"We heard Walker scream and came running," Max panted, bending double and resting his hands on his knees.

Riddick stepped away from Walker and let the other two men help him back to camp. Rain had dragged him out quite a ways before giving him the scare of his existence.

Anne rushed over to them when they got close to the fire and made a fuss over Walker, cleaning his wound and dressing it.

The bandages made his face bulky and he sat, slight shudders still racking his body. The cut had been made very deep, clear to the bone, and Riddick knew Walker would see Rain's emerald eyes every time he looked in the mirror.

She'd been an animal, he thought. She'd slid her face in and out, teasing the man with her closeness, intimidating him.

He'd liked it. She'd moved with an animalistic grace, and she'd been careful with her cut. While Walker would bare an ugly scar for the rest of his life, she hadn't hit anything that wouldn't heal. He wouldn't be blinded, and she hadn't cut his mouth. But he would be scared of her forever for it.

She was back. Riddick felt her closeness fill his senses and the scent of Walker's blood clung to her.

They didn't project anything to each other, but he felt her satisfaction at the groups reaction. They were all glancing around nervously, all reluctant to step outside the light, or even turn their backs to the dark.

He felt her search his feelings, skimming over his mind. He wondered if she could read his thoughts, or if she could merely communicate images and words. She was empathic, he knew that. He could feel it. He was empathic and noticed it in others. Her ability was stronger than his though, and he realized she must use it for seeing in the dark as well. Almost like echolocation techniques. Interesting.

He let her see that he'd liked what she'd done. Riddick could almost feel her grin. Then she was gone, slipping out of range. He could distinguish between range and clouding now, and he knew she'd run off to hide somewhere away from the others. Away from him.


	5. Gone Hunting

****

5. Gone Hunting

Riddick awoke to green eyes framed by thick curling hair. He jumped back so that he was a few feet away from Rain, resting on his haunches, muscles coiled.

She glanced at the shiv he'd drawn and flicked him a smile.

__

It's cold at night, she said, her emerald eyes flashing.

He relaxed a little and nodded. _Didn't think you'd stay away long._

Her full mouth pulled into a frown and she sat down hard in the brush. _I hate cold. Where I come from its always warm._

Riddick went back to her, laying in the flattened patch of fern type plants he'd used as a make shift bed, a space blanket used to keep him warm.

Rain gazed at the blanket longingly and Riddick growled something about getting old and soft before inviting her to share the blanket.

She flashed him a small grin and they both laid down beneath the blanket. The others had stayed near the warm glowing embers of the fire, but Riddick hadn't wanted any part of them. He'd half hoped Rain would show up again.

Walker hadn't been able to sleep. He fidgeted nervously about the fire, his bravado gone after having met up with Rain and her blade. Riddick had liked the knife, but he didn't ask, or even demand, that she give it back. It was strapped to her thigh with the sheath's leather thongs.

Rain let out a low groan and laid with her back to Riddick's broad chest, careful not to touch him. She understood personal space, and with Riddick's animalistic qualities he wouldn't want to feel enclosed. She let out a warning growl when she felt Riddick's thick arm wrap around her waist, but relaxed when he merely pulled her tight against him. She was grateful for the extra warmth, and he didn't seem to opposed to it either.

With Rain's tight body pressed against him, Riddick relaxed. He'd done it for more than warmth. This way, if she moved, he'd know it right away, whether she was clouding his senses or not. He grabbed the edge of the blanked and tucked it around them, then pushed her thick, wildly curling hair away from his face. She didn't move but he felt her relax against him, and her breathing became deep and even. He could sense that she was asleep, and allowed himself to drift off as well.

------

Max shook Clyde awake and held his finger to his lips, telling the other man to keep quiet. Clyde nodded sleepily and pushed himself into a sitting position.

Max beckoned him away from the fire, drawing him from the others before saying anything.

"What is it?" Clyde hissed when they were far enough away that they wouldn't wake the rest of the group. He shivered violently in the cold and rubbed his arms, trying to keep them warm.

"Remember what Rick said? When we asked him about that prisoner? She's worth major creds! If we can find her, we can bring her to Titan ourselves and get rich quick!" Max was practically rubbing his hands together at the thought.

But Clyde wasn't so sure. "Weren't you paying attention to what else he said? That chick took him over a year to track down, and she almost killed him _twice_! What makes you think we can catch her?"

For a moment, Max looked thoughtful. "She didn't kill Walker. Maybe she's not as bad as everyone thinks."

"She killed Rick," Clyde reminded him.

Max threw his hands up in frustration. "If you don't want your share of the profits, fine. Just means more for me. But I'm takin' some of those guns Walker made us tote along and huntin' her down." He stormed off, back towards the fire.

Clyde ran after him, grabbing his arm. "All right, all right!" he said. "I'll help, but we better be well armed, because I think she's just as mean as Rick made her out to be."

The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, sending its warm rays over the moon's lush scenery. The two men crept as quietly as they could back to the fire. Walker had his back to the smoldering embers, his hand resting on a twelve gauge. Everyone once in a while, they could make out a twitch in his cheek, beneath the bandages. Blood had begun to seep through and he groaned in his sleep, probably because they'd had nothing to assuage the pain.

Clyde spotted one of the two canvas bags full of assorted guns and stalked over to it. He tossed his head at Max, alerting him to his find, and threw the heavy bag over his shoulder. It wasn't easy though, and he grunted loudly. Max threw him an annoyed look, and Clyde grinned sheepishly.

Max saw the other bag, but getting it wasn't going to be easy, considering Walker was using it as a back support. He cursed under his breath and pointed the bag out to Clyde.

Clyde shook his head no when Max reached for it, and they decided to leave it be and begin looking for Rain right away.

They headed off, thinking they were being quiet, but Riddick had smelled them already. Rain and Riddick were wide awake, waiting.

------

Riddick sent Rain an annoyed look. "I don't want to have to explain why I helped you kill those kids."

She was indifferent to his annoyance. "Then leave. Go back to the camp. There's no reason why both of us should be blamed for any unfortunate... accidents those two might come across."

Although he hated giving up on a good hunt, he agreed with Rain. "All right. I'm going back to the camp, but you'd better make this fast, because if the others get wind, they might come runnin'."

She nodded and then disappeared in the direction of Max and Clyde. 

The minute the sun had lifted over the horizon both Rain and Riddick had snapped awake. Riddick had smelled the two would-be bounty hunters instantly. After a few minutes, she'd heard them crashing about in the underbrush, trying to be quiet. They were fools.

She heard a slight rustle beside her, and when she looked Riddick was gone.

Rain heard hushed voices approaching and crouched low, slowly drawing her blade. She loved the weight of it in her hand. It was perfectly balanced and she tossed it lightly, flipping it in the air then catching it by first the tip then the handle. It reflected the sunlight that filtered through the leaves as she examined it.

Within a few minutes, she picked up on Max and Clyde's excitement. She could pick up bits and traces of their thoughts, their racing emotions making their minds readable.

Max was letting greed cloud his judgment, but Clyde was a bit more watchful. She could feel the anxiety radiating off of him and waited. Rain crept about slowly, facing them as she went until she was behind them. She got closer and closer until she could make out their backs.

When they stopped beneath a tree, having found the spot where her and Riddick had lain for the night, she climbed up the trunk of one particularly large tree. The branches were long and thick and she slid out over the top of them, looking down curiously.

The branch forked out into two different segments and she used the crease to hold herself up as she swung down, hanging completely inverted by her feet.

Max had his back to Clyde and wasn't paying his companion any attention. Rain, using speed and strength, grabbed Clyde's skinny shoulders and yanked upwards, curling up as she did. Before Clyde could even yelp, she slit his throat.

His warm blood splattered across her shirt front and she laid his body across the thick branch.

"Clyde, she couldn't have gone far yet," Max was saying. When Clyde didn't answer he turned around, only to find his partner gone.

"Clyde?" Max called. "Clyde, this isn't funny, man! Where'd you go?"

Mixed emotions flooded Rain's mind as she picked them up from Max. Frustration, fear, anger. The boy was enough to drive her crazy. Most people cloaked their emotions, whether consciously or unconsciously. So while she could feel them, she wasn't overwhelmed. This boy was like a radio, spewing everything he was feeling out of himself. It clogged her senses and she shut down her mind, trying to close him out. 

Knowing she'd have to get a better handle on her abilities before she could take Max out, she propped Clyde in a way that would make him fall out of the tree within a few minutes. When she left him, gliding from tree to tree, he had already begun to slide towards the ground.

When Max heard a thump behind him and turned around to find the wide, staring eyes of Clyde gazing up at him dully, he screamed. He dropped the gun he was carrying and the bag over his shoulder and stepped back, eyes round with horror.

Clyde's throat was slit from ear to ear, the veins and tendons exposed to his site. Something that looked suspiciously like bone could be made out as well, and Max realized with terror that the con he was hunting had slit Clyde clear down to his spine.

Bile rose in his throat and he retched until his stomach was empty. It was then that he realized who was really hunting who.


	6. James Joins In

****

6. James Joins In

Johnston sat quietly at the table, his elbows resting on its smooth surface, fingertips pressed together. He eyed the stacks of files in front of him contemptuously.

Sighing deeply, he lifted his icy glare to Allen James and spoke. "I thought this little problem was taken care of, James."

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced around, trying to find reassurance in the face of one of his co-workers. The other seven just stared back, some curiously, others with no expressions on their faces at all.

"Uh-- I-- Well, what I mean to say is, yes, it was taken care of. Privately, of course, but things don't seem to be working out just right." Johnston was looking more annoyed than ever and James felt the need to climb down a dark, cold hole and hide.

"What was the transmission we received then? Would you care to explain that to the rest of the board?" Johnston eyed him with open sarcasm, and more than a little hostility.

"Yes. Yes, of course. We, I mean I, was given the assignment of hunting this deserter, Rain, down. I was told to use any means possible, and the most likely plan was to go to a merc, or bounty hunter. The best I could find was a man named Johns, but he came across an unfortunate accident a while back, and hasn't been seen since." James took a deep breath, Johnston's face was still twisted in a sarcastic mask. 

He continued. "Johns, being unavailable, led me to my second choice. A man by the name Rick Critchten."

"Rain," Johnston mused. "What's the deserter's last name?" he demanded.

James ruffled through the file in front of him, flipping over the papers. "Uh, there is none, sir. None was ever recorded."

Johnston frowned, but waved him to continue.

"As I was saying, Critchten was now the best in his field, considering Mr. Johns disappearance. I hired him immediately, and he took off after the woman.

"Rain, the deserter, almost killed the man twice before he caught her. She seems to have a fondness for blades, which isn't uncommon for Rangers, ex or employed. They favor it for its speed, efficiency, and the fact that it doesn't make an annoying boom when its used.

"She is also well trained in hand-to-hand combat and arms use. The first time she came close to taking Critchten out, she shot him in the chest, barely missing his heart. The next time she sunk some long blade into his shoulder, straight down. The blade hit his bone though and he survived, after three months in ICU.

"As you can see, she was no easy find. But about two weeks ago, Critchten caught up with her, and he was heading here with her when the ship he was on crashed on Rhea, the moon on the other side of Saturn. He sent this transmission."

James slid the sheet of white paper towards Johnston, and extra copies to the others assembled. There was a moment of silence before anyone said anything.

Johnston skimmed over the typed words. 

__

This is Rick Critchten. I was hired by Allen James. The ship I was using as transport to Titan had a run in with some space debris and crashed on Rhea. The entire back end of the ship was ripped off in the crash and my prisoner is gone. Name: Rain. Her number is: 1081983-DLS. Whether she survived or not is still to be determined.

The others began to murmur over this and James found himself shifting again, his anxiety building. He knew he'd fucked up bad, and he was going to pay for it. The Company never let anything slide.

He gulped at the look Johnston was giving him now, and flinched when the larger man slapped the paper down hard on the black table.

"This never should of happened," Johnston hissed at him angrily.

James nodded enthusiastically, then stopped himself, not wanting to look like a fool. Too late, he thought to himself.

"If given the chance, sir, I believe I can correct it," James stammered.

Johnston seemed to consider this before answering. "How long will it take you to fly to Rhea?" he asked quietly.

"Ah, about, um, three days, sir," he answered, calculating the distance between the two moons in his head.

"Good. You have two weeks to bring prisoner 1081983-DLS in. If you don't have her back here by then, you'll soon find that you are expendable."

James cringed as Johnston drew the word out, stressing it. He knew exactly what the man meant. If he didn't bring Rain in, and quick, he was going to share her fate.

Thanking everyone profusely, James scooped up the stack of files on Rain's Ranger career and her offenses, which was about a foot high, and headed for his quarters.

Within four hours, he was ready to go.

------

Max ran as fast as his skinny legs would carry him back towards the camp. He could make out smoke above the trees and he stumbled and fell through the brush, making a general racket, and crashing about. He ran into more than one tree, hitting one so hard he busted his nose. 

Blood ran down his face and dripped off the end of his pointy chin by the time he finally collapsed by the fire.

The others rushed over to him, Walker fastest of all, and began bombarding him with a barrage of questions he didn't quite know how to answer.

"Where's Clyde?" "What happened?" "What'd you do to yer nose?" "Why are you bleeding?" "Where's the weapons?"

Max's head spun from the effort of trying to get everything straight in his mind and he finally groaned , rolled onto his stomach, and puked. His body shook as he could only dry heave, considering he'd already spilled the contents of his stomach all over the forest floor when Clyde's body had dropped from the tree.

Everyone stepped back immediately, their questions temporarily subdued.

A young couple helped him to his feet and over to a rock, where he sat down heavily, his entire frame shaking uncontrollably.

Max took a few long, gulping breaths before he started talking. "Rick said that his prisoner was worth some cash. So when Walker got attacked by her and we all realized she must have killed Rick, I got together with Clyde. We were gonna go after her ourselves.

"Well, the sun was comin' up and we spotted the place where she must have bedded down for the night. I turned to say something to Clyde, but he was gone. Then suddenly he fell down from this tree, and his throat was cut. It was cut so damn deep that I could see his spine. And his eyes... Oh, God, his eyes. They were just staring at me..." Max trailed off, weeping uncontrollably.

Riddick sat a ways away from them, listening to Max's story. So Rain had killed the other boy. Too bad for him. He wondered why she'd left Max, and figured it was because she was still playing her thrill game with them.

Rain, who was perched in a tree not far away, listened intently to Max's rendition of the past few minutes. Little did she know that Riddick thought she was no more than a cold-blooded killer.

He wasn't far off though, even considering the only reason Max was alive was because he'd flooded Rain's mind with so many different thoughts at a time that she'd had to leave. Even now, at this distance, it was hard not to close her eyes and grab her head.

Everyone's' emotions were on hyper-drive and the feeling was overwhelming. But now that her own senses had calmed, she was able to block most of them out. Except for the strongest transmitters, she was safe from another overload.

She allowed Riddick to be alerted to her presence and felt his curiosity. She focused on him. He kept all his emotions muted, turned down, and it was comforting.

Max continued to blubber nonsense and Rain opened a line of communication with Riddick.

__

You missed it, she said. _I haven't slit someone a smile that big since my years as a..._ she trailed off, unsure of Riddick's reaction to the fact that she was a Ranger. Had been, she corrected herself. Had been a Ranger.

__

You can't hide it. Not from me, he stated. The feeling transmitted with the words was condemning.

Rain tried not to bristle at the judgment. _Hide what? _she asked innocently as possible.

__

The fact that you were a Ranger. I was one, too. But I got out. The condemning tone still audible.

__

Don't you dare judge me, she shot back at him.

A mental sigh from Riddick. _At least you left. Guess you're no worse than me._

She relaxed. _Glad we got that straight._


	7. Max's End

****

7. Max's End

The worn group of crash victims was quickly approaching Rhea's largest settlement. It was large enough to be classified as an actual city, roughly the size of Old New York, and was so named New-New York. The name seemed stupid to Rain, but it was a place she could shower and eat, and that made a fool grin spread across her face at just the thought of it.

Rain followed the group closely, wondering if she should pick Max off for the hell of it, or just let the kid be. Killing him was appealing, but didn't seem useful, considering everyone had voted on just heading out of the woods as fast as possible. They didn't seem inclined to become her next "accident." The fact that they were leaving her alone now made her infinitely happy, but Max's shifty eyes looked odd, and she was picking up strange signals.

Riddick would send her things, bits and pieces of conversation going on in the group, but didn't say anything himself. This way she was able to keep a handle on what they were all planning on doing once they reached New-New York.

Rain crept closer and then moved off to the left until she was walking beside them, close enough to hear the muffled words of the survivors. Counting herself, Rick and Clyde, there had been ten, but she knew there had been more in the beginning. Seven had died in the crash.

She mentally ticked off the names of the survivors still alive. Anne, Walker, Max... those three. Riddick, Biggs, Nick and Gina, a young free-settler couple, and a boy named Brand. And another girl, this one looked less than friendly, but was quite pretty. Rain hadn't picked up her name, so she sent Riddick a message.

__

Who's the quiet chick? she asked.

A mental shrug. _Don't know_, he answered, but Rain could sense a reluctance in his words that belied the casual response.

And that ended the conversation.

New-New York was about six miles away, so that meant food and shower weren't far away for Rain either.

She got so caught up in her happy reverie that she lost her concentration, and missed when the young woman left the group, a revolver in her waistband and a twelve gauge in her hand.

------

Max hadn't missed the girl's escape though, and he followed her into the brush. She knew something and he was going to find out what it was.

He followed her into a dense stand of trees and when he parted the branches, she was gone.

There was a thud behind him, and when he turned around he found himself staring down the barrel of a cocked and loaded forty-five millimeter revolver.

The girl gazed at him through strangely silver eyes, one brow lifted.

"What the hell do you think you're doin', kid?" she asked quietly, her voice low and menacing.

Max gulped hard and felt his knees go weak. "I, uh, was just going to ask you the same thing, girl," he answered with false bravado.

She lowered the gun to his chest, but her stance suggested that she wasn't relaxing at all. "Girl?" she questioned, a sneer curling her upper lip.

He gulped again. "Yeah. Unless you gotta name?"

"Ven," was the low answer.

Max swung around when there was another thud behind him and turned to find the boy he'd often seen talking to Ven behind him, a blade clasped expertly in his hand.

The boy looked to be about thirteen, and Max figured he could take him. When Ven nodded to the boy and shoved the revolver back into her waistband, Max launched himself at the kid.

He quickly wished he hadn't when the boy sidestepped his clumsy attack, bared his teeth and ripped his arm open with the blade, sticking out his booted foot at the same time and tripping him. Max landed with a grunt and a yelp, grasping his profusely bleeding arm with his free hand.

The boy hunched over him and pressed his knife to Max's throat, a low growl emanating from his throat. Gold eyes stared at him coldly from beneath the kid's dark brows.

"Brand." Ven's voice was sharp as she called to the boy. The boy slowly pulled the blade away from Max's throat and Max warily eyed the boy's canine type teeth, which were still bared in a feral grin.

And as quickly as they'd appeared, Ven and the boy she'd called Brand, were gone.

Max shoved himself to his feet, still grasping his arm and moaning at the pain. Figuring now was not a good time to go after the girl and her young companion, Max turned back towards the others.

He never reached them though, because Rain had finally decided what to do with him. 

------

She'd broken out of her reverie in time to see Max leave the others, and had noticed the girl was gone. She'd heard the boy approaching behind her, but he didn't seem to detect her, so she'd taken to the trees. 

She'd waited for him to pass beneath her, but instead he'd stopped directly under her, tilted up his head, and grinned at her. Then, while she was still in shock, he'd galloped after the girl and Max.

Intrigued, Rain had followed close behind and witnessed the little spectacle. These weren't normal kids, she decided, watching the young boy drop Max.

But now she knew that Max wasn't giving up his hunt, despite seeing Clyde with a new grin on his neck.

So when he turned back towards the others, she dropped from her tree, pulled her blade, and jumped at him.

Max stared at Rain incredulously. Then he glanced down at his stomach in horror. Rain was pressed close to him, and he watched as she twisted the blade she'd shoved into his gut.

He let out a strangled cry and she covered his mouth. "Shhh..." she breathed in a calming tone.

She pressed the blade a little deeper and twisted again as he stared into her eyes. Her expression was strangely gentle, but there was an odd light in her eyes. She shifted her position and then ripped the blade sideways, across his abdomen, then pulled away from him, bringing the knife with her.

Max fell to the ground, his stomach completely open, and felt his innards against his palm. With a quiet moan, he slipped off into the blackness already tinting his vision.

Rain wiped her hands off on Max's pants, cleaned her knife before re-sheathing it, then ran off towards New-New York. She was going to beat the others.

------

Riddick had also seen Ven and Brand disappear, Max following Ven and Brand following Max.

He heard a distant yelp that no one else would hear, and then the coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils. Max was either dead or injured now, he thought.

He'd heard Rain disappear after them and wondered if she'd kill Max now. If she'd kill Ven and Brand.

He doubted that. Ven wasn't the type to be messed with. He hadn't seen her for three months, but that didn't mean he didn't remember her or her brother.

He'd run into them on a dusty planet called Dres, and had left Jack with them. What they were doing here didn't make any sense to him, but he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

There was another sound, and then the unmistakable scent of death was present, and Riddick knew Max was gone.

------

James was half a day to Rhea. Pictures of Rain were spread out before him on the ship's tiny table and he eyed them.

Rain was wearing a Ranger uniform in the photographs, her long hair braided tight and hanging to just below her waist.

Files stated identifying marks were a tattoo of the letter "R" on her right hip, and a strange twisting symbol on her left, akin to a Celtic knot. She had a third tattoo on the back of her waist, another twisting design.

Scars were evident, but those were common to Rangers in her field. She was twenty six and trained to kill. He hoped he could take her. She'd been trained to be a killer by The Company. He'd been trained, too, but seven years at a desk job and he didn't fool himself into thinking he hadn't gone a little soft around the middle. He placed a hand on his stomach. _More than a little soft_, he corrected himself skeptically, feeling his bulging belly.

He was going to die going after her, unless he got real lucky, real quick.


	8. A Stay at Rhea's Ring

****

8. New-New York

Ven had noticed Riddick the minute she'd boarded the Ring Cruiser. Rumor had it that her sister had been spotted on Titan, so that's where her and Brand were going.

Riddick hadn't acknowledged her and Brand's presence on board the ship any more than they'd acknowledged his.

She'd caught him watching her curiously though, and wondered what it meant. That wasn't important now, though. She had to find Critchten's prisoner. That was her plan, and she would execute it.

Brand walked beside her. "I saw her in a tree," he said, watching his older sister solemnly. 

Ven frowned down at him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because that dumb ass Max was there. He admitted to trying to hunt the chick down himself. Then he tried to jump me! Dumb ass," he repeated.

"Okay. But where do you think she was going?"

"I think she was going after Max herself. She took out Rick, her biggest threat, and then Clyde. She's a killer, Ven. Why not just ask Riddick for help?" Brand watched the expression on her face shift between wariness and determination. "At least we know he won't kill us," he added.

"We're all killers, Brand. Even Mama and Daddy took out their fair share. But now we need help, and I think she can give it to us. We can't ask Riddick for anything. He's not any safer than her, and he's got his own ass to look after right now." Ven's voice rang with determination.

"She has to look out for herself, too, Ven. Why would she help us?" Brand demanded.

"Because we can get her out of here once we get to New-New York, that's why. I've got more than enough creds to buy a Libra-X2L. We'll be outta here in three days, tops. And maybe with the chick's help, we'll be on our way to Gin."

"Only if she doesn't try and kill us, too," Brand mumbled, but he shut up when Ven shot him an icy glare.

------ 

Rain was flying towards New-New York. Her past chased her and she saw the people at her station being beaten and killed, over and over again. She hadn't been able to help them. They'd screamed for mercy, and she'd been helpless to give it to them. And she hadn't been able to stand it.

So she'd left. She'd killed a lot of Rangers on her way out, but she'd made it. At least for a little while. And then Critchten had come after her. The man had been either too stupid or too stubborn to die, although she'd tried to kill him twice. She hadn't failed the last time though. Snapping someone's neck is a sure fire way to get them dead.

Then those dumb ass kids had thought they could take her, and now they were dead, too. It wasn't something that bothered her, though. Killing never had. But it had slowed her down. She could be in New-New York by now if she hadn't had to kill those two kids. She'd had to follow the rules though. And rule number one was: Look out for number one. Or as she had always liked to put it, thy own ass onto thine own. Self-preservation was more important to her than anything, and she was a survivor.

Rain thought about the boy and girl. Ven and Brand. That's the names they'd used, she remembered. The boy had been incredibly quiet and skilled, and the girl even more so. She hoped she wouldn't have to kill them.

The others would notice Max was gone soon, and Rain doubted they'd be so inclined to let her go over another death. She frowned. As long as those two kids and Riddick didn't help out, she'd be all right. They seemed to be her only real threats.

Elimination of the three would be her best bet, but she was reluctant to take them out. She found herself liking Riddick in her own twisted sort of way, and the kids intrigued her. She realized the girl probably wasn't a kid anymore.

Thinking about it, she realized the girl probably wasn't much younger than herself. Twenty-two, maybe twenty-three. They boy was much younger though. Probably only about thirteen, which was surprising considering the skill he'd used to drop Max.

She'd covered about three miles now, and sounds of the city began to reach her ears. Trees had already began to make way for small houses planted in the forest, and she discovered that she'd entered a sort of suburbia. 

"Wonderful," she muttered to herself, slinking through private yards. Rain heard cars, children laughing, and worst of all, smelled barbecue. She salivated as she came across a happily laughing family, cooking steaks of some sort over a big fire pit.

She looked down at herself with distaste. Her favorite leather pants looked like shit. Her shirt was ripped and she knew her face had to be at least a little dirty, if not a lot. She lifted her arm and sniffed. _Not **too** bad_, she thought. Definitely could have been worse considering she'd been without a bath and deodorant for two days. The sun was beginning to set and she checked herself. Almost three days now. Riddick had given her a piece of jerky, but that's all she'd eaten, and she knew she had to be dehydrated as hell. She felt dehydrated as hell, in any case.

Killing innocents had never been something she'd indulged in and now wouldn't be a place to start, but she was going to steal at least one steak and one of the sodas she spotted resting in a cooler.

Pulling her blade to ward off anyone who might try and stop her, Rain rushed the man at the pit, who was currently laughing at something his wife had said, and yelled loudly.

The startled family looked at her in shock, and seeing a tall, muscular woman with wild hair and emerald eyes rushing them with a rather large knife in her hand, they all screamed back.

"Now," Rain said, brandishing the knife fiercely, waving it at the parents who were now beginning to back towards their young children protectively. "I don't want to hurt you people, but I'm hungry, tired, and thirsty, and I'm going to take one of your steaks and one of those sodas over there," she jerked her head towards the cooler, "and then I'm gonna be on my way." They didn't answer. "Is that understood?"

The man nodded. "Hell, take two steaks. She bought too many anyways," he said, pointing at his wife.

Rain flashed a strangely warm grin at them, snatched a steak and the soda, and as an afterthought, a few napkins, then jumped their cute white picket fence and began jogging down the street.

"Well, that made everything more interesting, didn't it?" the man asked as he watched Rain leap the fence easily.

His wife gave a strangled laugh and the kids stared in opened mouth shock.

"She was cool, Dad!" his eleven year old daughter exclaimed.

"Aw, hell," was all he could choke out at his daughter's awed tone.

"Aw, hell," his wife echoed.

------

Riddick watched the others faces. Fear and anxiety was plaguing them, and he could easily understand. Ven, Brand, and Max had all disappeared. They'd found Max with his guts hanging out, but there was no trace of Ven and her younger brother.

He guessed they'd gotten sick of everything and headed for the city on their own. Riddick stayed for appearances, not only that but he didn't have a ride off this moon without Walker. If the man was still capable of piloting a ship, he thought dully. He hadn't been doing so well since his face had been cut by Rain. The deaths of Clyde and Max hadn't helped the man's already rattled nerves, either.

Riddick found himself annoyed with Rain. Neither had been thinking about how this would affect Walker's piloting. Walker had mentioned having a shipping company here, and they'd all been thankful they'd landed on Rhea, instead of Dione, which was populated with Rhea's criminal rejects. No shipping company there. But that might not matter now, because Walker was looking a bit too nervous to be pulling a wagon, let alone flying a space transport. 

__

Great, Riddick thought to himself. _This is fuckin' great_.

Nick and Gina, the young couple, seemed bent on going after Rain. They said justice had to be delivered to the convict and they were just the ones to give it to her.

Riddick sneered at their naiveté. Rick Critchten had been a trained professional and he'd been killed by Rain. Clyde and Max were both slit wide open. Walker had been the lucky one, and he was only alive because she'd so decided that he should stay that way.

Her thrill game had become a lot more deadly and Riddick understood why. Self-preservation. Look out for number one. She'd been threatened, and the threat had been eliminated quickly and efficiently. Max had been lucky to live as long as he had.

------

When Rain entered the actual city of New-New York, her senses screamed. Her ability to read people also heightened her other senses, because she felt them through others, and the smells, bright lights, and the actual taste of the air made her dizzy. Not to mention the multitude of emotions. People in the city allowed the emotions to flow out of them like a river finally breaking through a dam.

Reeling from the impact, Rain took the creds she'd lifted from Rick, Max, and Clyde and headed for the nearest hotel. 

It was a run-down looking place, with the name Rhea's Ring spray painted above the door.

The tired looking man behind the desk eyed her warily but when she flashed the creds he brightened immediately. He gave her the pass key to the "Presidential Suite" and asked to carry her bags.

She'd offered to let him carry her knife, sarcastically, but he'd refused with a nervous shake of his head, both hands held in front of him as if to ward her off. Rain bared her teeth in what could almost be considered a grin and went up to her room.

The "Presidential Suite" was merely a little cleaner and a little bigger than the rest of the rooms, which suited Rain just fine.

The first thing she did was peel off all her clothes and step beneath the shower head. It spurted clean, hot water and she groaned as she washed the dirt and sweat from the last three days off of her skin.

Surprisingly, the bathroom had a little plastic basket with a bottle of shampoo and a tiny bar of soap. Clean towels hung from a bar above the toilet. Rhea's Ring was higher quality than Rain had first guessed and found herself unimaginably happy that she'd been wrong about it.

When she was clean to her satisfaction, she took her clothes and washed them in the sink, then she hung them over the shower curtain and laid naked on the bed, instantly falling asleep.

------

Ven grabbed Brand's arm and pointed at Rhea's Ring. "She just went in there," she hissed.

They could see Rain in the little hotel's window, paying the desk clerk. "What do you want to do about it?" Brand asked.

"Wait until she comes out."

"That could be hours away. Let's get a room, too. The smell of this place is making me sick. And I lost my shades in the crash, so now my eyes hurt, too. C'mon, Ven, please?" he pleaded.

"Fine. But we have to take turns watching for the chick," Ven finally conceded.

"Great! You can go first," and Brand rushed into the hotel just as Rain disappeared up the stairs.


	9. The Meeting

****

9. The Meeting

Riddick entered the city with the rest of the survivors. Nick and Gina had been persuaded to leave Rain alone for now, and therefore hadn't taken off into the forest, where Riddick was sure they'd have lost their lives.

Dark had almost fully descended on the moon, and the bright lights of the city were on. They were flashing for casinos, hotels, clubs, bars, and anything else that might attract patrons and cash.

The forest had given way to private homes before they'd entered the actual city of New-New York, and Riddick had steeled himself to prepare for the assault on his senses. He always hated entering a big city such as this.

He wondered if Rain had gotten into the city yet, and if Ven and Brand had also. He didn't know them well enough to put himself on the line for them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be disappointed if they were killed. They'd helped him out, and that counted for something, even in his book.

Everyone decided to get rooms for the night and they spotted a hotel that had a gaudy neon sign flashing "Vacancy" below a larger sign. The larger sign was obviously the name of the hotel, and Riddick decided that Saturn must be very fond of its rings, because most everything there was named "Ring" something-or-other. The hotel was no exception. The Ring Stop was a decent looking place, with a friendly old woman working as desk clerk.

When she saw the small group of six enter her establishment she beamed at them and immediately began handing out pass keys before anyone even brought out money.

Riddick gave the woman a cred card and she swiped it merrily through the register. She did the same with everyone else and began leading them to their rooms

Riddick's room was small, but what he figured people would call "cozy." There was a handmade quilt on the double bed and the room had all the modern conveniences. He turned off the lights the woman had switched on when she'd opened the door for him and removed his goggles.

There was a holovision set on a chest of drawers. He didn't bother with that, but instead pushed open the door leading to the small clean bathroom.

He stepped into the shower fully clothed, except for his boots, and just let the water wash away the dirt. He used a bar of soap to wash the grime from his clothing, rinsed it off, then peeled the clothes away from his body so he could wash his skin.

When he was done he tossed his pants, shirt, and jacket over the shower door then dried off.

He wrapped a towel around his hips and sat down on the bed, flicking on the HV set.

The local news was of no interest to him and he found a station playing old movies. Riddick fell asleep to the sounds of automatic gun fire and explosions playing over the set.

------

Rain awoke with her hair all around her, curling wildly. She shoved the black locks away from her face and groaned. Three days of tree leaping and forest hiking had left her a little stiff. 

That's what made cryo-sleep such a bitch. Your body might not age or need to eat, but it didn't protect your muscles from atrophy or deterioration. She hated it!

With another groan she shoved herself to her feet. The sun was already rising and that meant she'd slept longer than she'd intended. Her clothes were already dry and she tugged them on, loving the clean feeling. The shirt was a bit on the trashy side from climbing around in the trees, but her pants were fine. They reminded her why she loved leather; easy to clean and durable.

The deep tears on her arms were irritated and she decided that it would be a good idea to clean them with something. Shoving her creds in her pocket and securing her blade to her leg, she left Rhea's Ring and headed for any sort of store she might be able to find.

The desk clerk nodded at her as she passed, and at Ven, who was following close behind.

Rain knew she was being followed the minute she stepped outside of the hotel, but didn't let on. Whoever was following was good at masking any emotions they had, because all Rain could pick up on was the person's presence but no actual feelings.

She found a large grocery store and entered. Most the people she passed gave her strange looks, but she ignored them. Moving quickly, Rain ducked behind a display of some sort of canned food, and when the person trailing her whipped around the corner after her, Rain grabbed for them.

But her pursuer was too fast for that, and ducked beneath Rain's grasp and rolled to the left, landing in a crouched position.

Rain, blade pulled, coiled to jump her attacker but froze when she saw it was Ven. Ven also had her blade pulled and they faced each other, sizing one another up.

"I don't want to fight you," Ven growled at Rain.

Rain lifted one sleek shoulder in a small shrug and eyed Ven warily. "I don't want to fight you, either," she answered quietly.

Ven flashed a grin and re-sheathed her blade. "Good. Then we can talk like civilized people, although we both know we're not that at all."

Rain decided she liked the girl immediately and also sheathed her knife.

"You should clean those," Ven said, pointing at the cuts on Rain's arms. 

"That was the plan," she replied. 

"I've got stuff in my room," Ven offered.

Rain shook her head, still not trusting the young woman. "No, thanks. I'll just buy some stuff here and clean them myself."

Ven shrugged. "Your loss."

They walked through the store until Rain came to the medical supply aisle. She grabbed a bottle of peroxide, some gel antiseptic, and some bandages then headed for the checkout station, Ven in tow.

Rain paid for the supplies, then her and Ven walked in silence back to Rhea's Ring.

When they entered the hotel, Brand was waiting for them on a bench by the wall. He shot Ven a questioning look, his hand resting on his blade handle. When Ven nodded to him, he relaxed and removed his hand.

"Hi," he said, walking over to Rain.

She eyed the young boy curiously. He was as tall as her and not as skinny as most boys his age. Black hair, gold eyes, and dark skin. 

He stuck out his hand and she shook it. "I'm Brand," he said.

Rain studied him, feeling the strength in his grip, and grinned. "I'm Rain." She turned to face the boy's sister. "Ven, right?" she asked.

The girl nodded then headed up the stairs. Rain followed with Brand bringing up the rear. He obviously didn't trust her any more than he could throw her, and that's just how she felt about them, so she wasn't offended.

When they entered Rain's room, the two stood silently while she sat down on the bed and began to clean her cuts. The cryo-tube had done more damage to her arms than she'd thought, hissing through clenched teeth as she swabbed the wounds with antiseptic.

They began to bleed again when they were clean and she wrapped both arms with the gauze she'd purchased, the white a stark contrast to her golden skin.

Ven and Brand had been completely silent and she struggled to read them. They cloaked their emotions the same way Riddick masked his, although Brand was a little easier to pick up on. He was still young, though.

Rain sighed and motioned them to seat themselves. Ven lowered herself to the small couch in the corner, Brand beside her.

"Why were you following me?" Rain asked, getting right to the point.

"We need your help," Ven answered, not bothering to pretend she didn't know what Rain was talking about.

Rain lifted a dark brow. "Why should I help you?"

"I can get a ship and get you outta here. Nick and Gina, that young couple, they had the same ambitious way as Max and Clyde, if you catch my drift.

"After you tore up Walker's face they went ape shit, claiming you needed to be brought to justice." Ven snorted. "They think they can dish it out to you."

Rain chuckled. "You don't agree?" 

"I saw what you did to Clyde, like the rest. Rick disappeared and he was a pro. You probably took out Max, too, didn't ya?"

Rain shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. I took them all out. Not like it was a hard thing to do."

"And you're not sorry either. You're a killer, like us. We'll get you off this moon, and you tell us all you know about Gin Wolf."

They were watching her, waiting to see if she'd react to the name. Sure, she knew it. Every Ranger did. Gin Wolf was best known for wiping out any Rangers unlucky enough to cross her path, but Rain had never met her. Last she'd heard, the woman was in Slam City, serving a life sentence. She thought she'd heard Wolf had escaped, but the transport she'd stolen had crashed on some God forsaken planet in the middle of nowhere.

Rain wasn't about to tell them that though. If they could get her out of this place, she was more than willing to cooperate. "How long will it take you to get a ship?" she asked.

"Two, three days? You interested?" Ven asked.

"Damn straight, I'm interested. But what's Gin Wolf to you guys?"

"She's our sister," Brand spit out before Ven could silence him.

Rain grinned. "So all of you are part of that Ranger killin' family," she said knowingly. "I've heard about you guys, too. No one has ever been able to catch you, but you've killed plenty of folks. Even you, huh, kid?" She looked at Brand.

Brand shrugged. "Killin's easy," he said. "You can make money doin' it. You were a Ranger, weren't you?"

She shrugged. "Unfortunately, kid." She turned to Ven, "Okay, I'm game. I'll tell you all I know about the notorious Ranger murderer and you get me off this rock," Rain told them, rising to her feet. She was going after this Nick and Gina. They were threats, and from what she could tell, anyone in that group that wanted to get a hold of her was in need of a lesson.

"It wasn't murder," Brand added as she turned to leave. "Killing Rangers is _never_ murder. It's pest control."

"My thoughts exactly, kid," was all Rain said in reply.


	10. Business

****

10. Business

"Where you goin'?"

Rain turned around and saw Ven standing against the wall. "Business. I'll be back."

Ven shoved herself away from the wall and took a few steps closer to Rain. Her silver eyes glowed slightly in the dark, and she eyed Rain curiously. "You're goin' after Nick and Gina." It wasn't a question.

"Thy own ass onto thine own," was all Rain said, then she turned around and ran off into the city.

__

They pissed off the wrong chick, Ven thought to herself as she stepped back inside Rhea's Ring.

Brand looked up at her from his spot on the bed when she entered their room. He clicked the HV onto mute and sat up. "They're dead, aren't they?" he asked.

Ven nodded. "No great loss. If they'd known who we were, they'd be after _us_, too. She's doing cons everywhere a favor."

Brand just shrugged and went back to his program. Ven wondered how she'd do them, but didn't dwell on it. As Rain had said, thy own ass onto thine own.

------

Riddick smelled Rain coming from about half a mile away. Her emotions were cloaked and he knew she must have tracked them to the Ring Stop.

He heard the front door of the hotel open and the bells tied to its handle jingled merrily.

Rain's voice floated up to him. "Looking for Nick and Gina. Did they tell you about how we got here?" she asked the evening desk clerk.

"Uh, yes. You all crashed, didn't you?" the elderly man asked.

"Yeah. We got separated in the woods and they have something of mine. I _really_ need to get it from them. Will you help me out?" Rain used her charm and flashed images to the man. He'd pick up warm thoughts from her and it would help persuade him to tell her which room the couple were in.

The old man was silent for a minute, thinking, then he smiled warmly. "They're in room 104, young lady. I hope you get what you're looking for."

Rain flashed him a bright grin and jogged up the stairs. To the left was rooms 100 through 103, and 104 through 106 to the right. She could sense Riddick in 106, but he didn't come out, even though she knew he knew she was there.

She rounded the corner and pulled her blade, then knocked on the door lightly.

Nick cracked it open. "May I hel..." he trailed off when he saw who it was, but before he could slam the door shut, Rain rammed her shoulder against it hard, throwing Nick backwards.

The door hung off one hinge and Rain heard the old man's voice calling from downstairs. "What's going on up there!?"

Rain ignored him and kicked the damaged door shut with her foot. Nick was backing towards his wife, arms out to the sides to keep her behind him.

Rain shook her head slowly. "You shouldn't have said anything about coming after me," she said, almost sorrowfully.

"Murderer!" Gina spat from behind the relative safety of her husband.

Rain lifted a brow. "I was only protecting myself. I've never killed anyone that didn't cross me," she argued, not really caring what they thought of her. Then she shrugged. "Not that it matters. You've both crossed me, and I can't have threats behind me. If I let you live, you might catch me later. I'm not willing to take that chance."

"What are you gonna do?" Nick gulped, trying to sound tough.

He was a big blonde guy. Blue eyes, tan skin. An athlete. His wife was small and petite. Blunt cut black hair framed an oval face, and liquid brown eyes pleaded with Rain to let her live.

"I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be," Rain continued, stepping forward.

Nick's head swiveled on his shoulders, searching vainly for an escape rout. When none presented itself, he reached behind him and grabbed his wife's arm. "Gina! Run!" He tossed his wife forward towards the door and launched himself at Rain, reaching for her throat with his massive hands.

Rain let out a howl of rage and jumped straight up over Nick's crouched attack, coming down on his back. There was a sickening snap just before she launched herself off of Nick's back and tackled Gina.

Gina let out whoosh of air, her breath knocked out of her and pushed herself to a sitting position. Rain had rolled away gracefully and was crouched near her, muscles coiled, blade drawn.

She twisted it unconsciously between her fingers, admiring the way the light reflected off of its metallic surface. She could feel Riddick's senses on the alert, feeling out what was happening in the room.

__

They are going to die, she told him, her voice low and menacing.

__

I know. Are you going to play with the girl? he asked.

A mental shrug. _I think so. Nick's alive but not moving. I think I broke his back. _She sent him the memory of her attack on Nick.

__

You did. You're going to make him watch, aren't you? he asked. 

She wasn't surprised that he knew Nick's back was busted. His senses would tell him that much. She'd believed the same in any case.

__

Yes, and I think I'll let him live, too. Or at least prolong his death. And then she was silent.

In the room, Rain was circling her prey. That's how she always thought about the people she killed. Prey. She hunted them, and then she killed them. 

Gina was crouched over the prone body of Nick, who was trying to comfort her, reassure her, despite his own predicament.

"It's gonna be okay, honey," he whispered, eyeing Rain. "The others have got to hear us, they'll come."

But they won't, Rain thought. A little sensory clouding and they can't hear anything. They're all asleep, now, anyways.

But Nick and Gina didn't know that. They didn't know what Rain's abilities were and what they allowed her to do.

Sick of their show, Rain fisted a hand in Gina's thick hair and yanked her away from Nick. "I was going to make this as painless as possible," she stated, forcing the woman to look her in the eye. "But then he had to do the stupid thing and act brave. Now he's going to watch you die, and I think I'm going to let him bleed to death."

"Monster," Gina hissed at her. She clutched at Rain's forearm with both hands, trying to disentangle her hair from Rain's hand. It wasn't working.

Rain leaned so close their faces were almost touching. "Yes. I am a monster, and I bite hard." 

She tossed Gina to the bed and then jumped on her, straddling her ribs. She looked over her shoulder at Nick, and pushed away from Gina. "I almost forgot. You can't see laying on the floor like that, can you, Nicky?" Rain mocked from her position on the bed. She could feel his fear growing, causing his heart to pump harder and harder. His face was deathly pale.

"You stay there, Gina. Let's not make this any more painful than it has to be." That said, Rain clasped Nick under the arms and hoisted him onto the couch, thankful he'd fallen close to it. When he was sitting up, looking directly at the bed, she sat astride his lap and leaned close.

"You can't feel that, can you?" she taunted as she rubbed herself against him. "Hm, that's too bad. Not a bad lookin' guy, nice body. We could have had some fun without wifey over there if the two of you hadn't fucked up so monumentally." She ran her hands over his broad chest. "Really a shame." A detached look suddenly overcame her face and she sliced his stomach open with her blade.

Nick tried to look down at what she'd done, but he couldn't feel anything below his shoulders. "What did you do?" he choked out.

Rain pushed away from him with a toss of her head, throwing her mass of riotous black curls behind her back. "I slit you, and now you'll bleed to death, unable to feel it, while you watch me kill your wife."

Her voice was completely detached, as if she was someone else instead of a killer, torturing her victims. She was toying with them like a cat with a mouse.

Gina had lain still and whimpering on the bed, watching Rain with her husband. "Oh, God, Nick. You're bleeding a lot."

"Its okay," he breathed weakly. He could see a circle of blood growing on the couch out of the corner of his eye now. Rain could feel his strength slipping away slowly.

"The bleeding will slow in a minute," Rain said, watching him. "It's not deep enough to actually kill you, but with the blood loss and your back, you will die."

Then she was straddling Gina again, and she pressed the knife to Gina's smooth, white cheek. "Remember Walker's face? After I grabbed him? That was nothing," she breathed into Gina's ear. She began flooding the woman's mind with the scariest, most terrifying monsters she could remember seeing, remember hearing about. Gina cried out and writhed beneath her, but Rain's superior strength made her efforts futile.

Rain pressed the blade hard against Gina's cheek and sliced downwards, covering her mouth with her other hand. Gina screamed against her palm and she could hear Nick pleading with her to leave his wife alone.

With a sneer, Rain added another cut to Gina's pretty face, making a cross. She made short work of Gina's other cheek, then she tore open the woman's shirt.

She began by making medical precision cuts on her chest, continuing to muffle Gina's cries with her hand. Riddick continued to stay away and she couldn't read what he thought of her. She knew he toyed with people, she'd felt that in him the minute she'd spotted him outside her tube. She wondered if he was as bad as her though, and doubted it.

When she was satisfied that Nick had seen enough of his wife dying, and that Gina had had enough pain, she ended the woman's suffering with a lightening quick movement, that wasn't necessary for the kill, but would leave a nice mess.

She shoved the knife into Gina's throat, sideways. Then she slid it across from underneath and ripped upwards. Blood sprayed across her arms and chest, and she wiped the blade clean on the bed's quilt. She was almost sorry to see something that nice be ruined by blood spilt.

Nick was crying silently on the couch, starting to tip sideways. She eyed him with disgust and then went into the bathroom. She washed the blood from her skin and dried off before returning to stand silently in front of him.

He was whimpering slightly, his eyes locked on his now dead wife. The sight of him made Rain sick. The way he just stared at her mournfully. Love was overrated. Anything that could make you feel pain for another's death wasn't worth it.

Nick shot her a pleading look and her face twisted with revulsion. "You make me sick," she finally told him. Then she leaned forward, took his head in both hands, and snapped his neck. Leaving him there alive until the fog wore off the others was even too cruel for her.

There was a sickening snap, then she dropped his head, and he tipped over completely, laying in a crumpled pile on the couch. His eyes stared lifelessly at his wife, and Rain stared at him for a while before turning to the door.

Riddick stood framed in the door jam, his eyes shielded by the usual dark goggles. "You didn't enjoy that as much as you'd thought you would," he said quietly.

Rain stared at him for a moment then shook her head. "I don't always kill because I like it," she said. "Aspects of it are..." she trailed off, searching for a word. "I do it out of necessity," she finally finished. "If the prey thinks I like it, they are less willing to fight back, and I can get my job done.

"No one but the Company will come after me after word of this gets out. Something like this leaves an example for other mercs and bounty hunters. They'll think twice before coming after me, now," she said, waving a hand towards Nick and Gina's prone bodies.

Riddick lifted his dark brows. "But mercs will come. Now you'll just be worth more."

"Stupid ones will come," she conceded. "And the really good ones, who think they've got what it takes. But there will be less now."

He nodded, knowing she was right. Less people would be willing to risk their lives to catch her, no matter how much she was worth.

As she walked past him and turned down the stairs to the lobby and the street, words from his past floated from her lips to haunt him.

"Didn't know who they were fuckin' with." And then she was gone, the bells of the door jingling and the man at the desk shooting her back a dirty look.


	11. The Bathroom

****

11. The Bathroom

For the first time in five years, Rain had nightmares. She twisted in her sheets and woke up screaming. The voices of beaten slaves rang in her ears and she covered them with her hands, bending double.

Must have been triggered by the killing, she thought miserably. She remembered the first time she killed. It had been her mother and her mom's boyfriend. She hadn't had a single nightmare from that, but when she'd seen the slaves getting beaten she'd woken up screaming for months. She'd watched families tortured in front of one another and it had ripped her apart.

"What have I become?" she cried out to the empty room. _You've become just like the people I hated most_, a voice in her head hissed.

The sun was beginning to peek through the curtains covering her window, and she turned away from it and rolled off the bed.

Rain landed on her hands and knees. The carpet felt rough on her skin and she pushed herself upright, groaning.

Her pants were slung over the foot board of the bed and she grabbed them and began tugging them over her bare legs. Ven had given her a fresh shirt and she pulled that on as well, than sat on the edge of the bed to tug on her boots.

Rain tied her hair back from her face and stumbled numbly out of her room and down the stairs. She could feel that Ven and Brand were gone and figured they were out ship hunting.

The sun burned her eyes and she shielded them with her hand. There were many people about and she avoided them as she walked aimlessly through the city. _Of all the times for my conscious to make a reappearance, why now? _she asked herself over and over again.

Brand had said they were looking for their sister, and that she might be on Titan. Rain knew she couldn't go there though, because that's where Ranger HG was. She wasn't willing to risk being caught, but convincing Ven that going there wasn't the best idea wasn't going to be an easy task.

Her senses returning to her, she continued to look around the city, images of Nick and Gina flashing a torturous pain through her mind.

The city was teaming with people, even at this early hour, and through other people, Rain picked up scents and sights that intrigued her. She'd traveled the universe, but she'd never really allowed herself to go into big cities, for the express reason of a sensory overload. But after years of practice, and finally getting a good handle on her abilities, she was able to filter emotions and thoughts projected at her by the citizens of the city.

There were also people that hid their emotions, and she noticed that some were better than others. She was looking upwards at an amazingly tall skyscraper while she walked, when she slammed into a woman. The woman shot her a look through bright silver eyes and her nostrils flared. Rain was unable to pick up any emotion from her whatsoever, and the woman retracted mentally when Rain tried to pick something up. It was the same reaction she got from Ven, and even Brand. The eyes were eerily similar, as well.

Where was it Ven had said they were from? Trys something or other. Rain had heard of Trysians before, and had been told that they were deadly because of their sensory perception, and the ability to heal with amazing speed. And they were fast. Reaction time was shorter in Trysians than in any other form of humanoids in the known universe. Not to mention they could smell pheromones and determine your mood from that. It was almost as good as being empathic.

Feeling odd from the nightmares and the guilt that plagued her, Rain flowed with the growing crowds. When she finally took the time to wonder where she was, she found that she'd crossed half the city in a few short hours. She checked her watch. Okay, a few long hours. She'd left her room around six am, and now it was ten p.m.. It was dark and the streets were beginning to empty out.

Rain shivered and turned back towards the hotel, rubbing her chilled arms. She'd been so deep in thought she'd forgotten to eat and she had a sudden urge to pee. She ducked into a bar and was forced to pay a six credit cover charge. She flashed her teeth at the bouncer who'd charged her and flashed him an image of sharp teeth on some giant cay-type animal. He blinked at her dazedly and let her pass, goosebumps raised on his flesh.

Rain grinned to herself then, and pushed her way to the back of the bar. The sign indicating the women's bathroom was a welcome sight and Rain brushed by a group of stogie sucking chicks on her way in. She bumped one harder than the woman seemed to appreciate and the lady turned on her, long nailed hand pulled back to strike.

Seeing the ready strike heading for her face, Rain ducked and pulled her blade at the same time, not even thinking. When she saw it was just some lady with a bad attitude, and not someone that might come after her, Rain just pulled back her fist and decked the woman, sending her sprawling and unconscious to the floor. The woman's three companions turned on her immediately, and Rain used all her concentration to send them images of her kill the night before. The sight of her covered in blood flooding their minds made them squeal in terror, and they fled, leaving their unconscious friend on the floor. Rain laughed so hard she almost wet herself and ducked into the bathroom.

A loud sigh echoed from her stall and when she came out and washed her hands she was confronted by one of the three still conscious woman, and she had a couple big guys with her.

Rain flashed them a bored look and continued to wash her hands. She dried them before turning to stare at them fully, one dark brow raised questioningly.

"That's her!" the woman, declared, pointing a long crimson nail in Rain's direction.

Rain sighed and lifted a shoulder casually. "Uh, yeah, its me. Who else would I be?"

The woman sneered. "You punched out Shelly, you cunt!"

Rain's hackles stood up suddenly. That was not something you called a woman. "I'm not going to ask you to take that back, but I am going to beat the shit outta ya now. Just be glad I'm not going to kill you, like I did them."

She flashed the group of people images of everyone she could remember killing. At least all the more bloody ones. The men shifted uncomfortably and the woman looked ready to faint, her face suddenly drained of color.

That done, Rain crouched low and coiled her muscles for the attack, feeling the blood rush through her veins. She didn't pull her knife, because that would mean she'd end up killing someone, and she was strangely wary of doing just that. One of the larger men advanced on her, and she dropped him with lightening speed.

Her first attack was a fake strike to the head, and when he lifted his arms to block the blow, she launched herself forwards and kneed him in the groin. He cupped the offended appendage and doubled forward. Rain then followed up by leaping straight up and coming down on his spine with her elbows, planting them in his back. He howled and fell to the ground, trying to grab both injuries with his hands, and writhing on the floor.

The second man leapt at her, a growl emanating from his throat, and Rain sidestepped his clumsy attack, leapt upwards and spun, landing a hook kick to the back of his head. When she landed, she grabbed him in a sleeper hold until he passed out, then let his limp form drop to the ground.

The other guy, seeing what she could do, pulled a gun. Rain froze and gazed at the extended weapon. 

"Don't move," he ordered shakily, but his hand was steady. Rain didn't move, her body eerily still.

He advanced on her, the woman watching with a smug smile on her face.

Rain, seeing him gain some control and think that he had her now, dropped down onto her haunches and then jumped up and forward, hitting the underside of the gun with both hands. The man's arm flew up and she grabbed at the gun.

Before she could twist it around and pull it from the man's hand, it went off and the bullet thudded into the ceiling.

Undaunted, Rain grabbed the gun in a practiced twist and pulled it away, suddenly aiming at the man. There was now a crowd of rubber necking bar patrons gawking at the door, but Rain waved the gun at them and they backed away warily.

She stalked meaningfully over to the woman, pulled her blade and held it to the woman's throat. "You could have gotten me killed, _cunt_," she hissed. The woman gulped and looked over Rain's shoulder to the man, who was now one gun short, pleadingly. He glanced away, his ego badly damaged. "I could kill you," she added, seeing and feeling the woman's fear. Adrenaline rushed through her, and the urge to slit the woman a new grin was almost overwhelming, but Rain still held back. 

Instead, she decided to leave the woman a reminder of herself, and tangled her fist in her hair. She pulled the woman's head back, exposing her throat. Muscles contracted and Rain watched them tighten and loosen over and over again. The woman's long blonde hair was thick, and with an evil laugh, Rain put the razor sharp edge of the knife against the woman's scalp and began to cut her hair away. The woman whimpered, and Rain forced her to her knees.

No one moved, the entire bar had gone silent. Standing back, Rain admired her handy work. The woman looked a bit like a shaved dog now. Her hair lay in clumps around her and what was left stood on end. But that wasn't much, being as Rain had only left an inch or so on the woman's head.

The woman covered her head with her hands, and Rain laughed. "It'll grow back. Christ, people, I only wanted to use the damn bathroom!" Then she left, laughing her way out the door.

Rain wouldn't have been laughing, though, if she'd known James had just landed in New-New York, and he'd already gotten a sniff of her location. The hunt was beginning.


	12. The Warning

****

12. The Warning

James broke the atmosphere late at night and used his radio to tell the flight operator of New-New York that he was a Company Ranger and needed to land at their spaceport immediately. The man on the other end gave him immediate permission and James docked at the airlock before starting to unloaded his gear.

His legs felt a bit wobbly when he stood on ground that didn't have artificial gravity and he cursed his soft muscles. If Rain was as bad as everyone made her out to be he was going to die a quick death. _Or maybe a slow one_, he thought unhappily.

He had arrangements already made to stay at the Wellington, New-New York's finest five star hotel. When he arrived he was immediately bustled up to his three room suite, his bags carried by some young bell hop in a funny uniform. James held back a snicker as the kid adjusted the uncomfortable red hat strapped to his head and lifted the bags.

The room was enormous and plush. King sized bed in the bedroom, along with all the creature comforts. Holovision set, immense chest of drawers, a bathroom off to the left. The bathroom had a separate shower and a jacuzzi. Even the toilet and sink were fancy.

James examined the rest of the rooms, finding overstuffed leather furniture, a gas fireplace, another holovision set, small kitchen and a tiny refrigerator full of expensive treats, drinks and snacks.

He fought the urge to stuff a few snacks down his throat and down more than one bottle of expensive cognac. _That won't help me at all_, he told himself as he sat down in front of the holovision set to check the local news.

After flipping through a number of different stations, James found a story that might be a clue. A young woman with hair that looked like plastic from too much hairspray was standing in front of a bar.

"... was attacked tonight while out with friends. No one was badly injured, but the attacker did knock one woman unconscious and cruelly cut all the hair off another with a large knife," the young newscaster was saying. "When a few of the women's male friends arrived to help, they too were attacked. The attacker was described as a large man with long dark hair. Approximately six foot five and two hundred and fifteen pounds. If you see this..."

James flipped the channel looking for more news. He finally came across something worth paying attention to.

Police officers could be seen inside a room that was blocked off with tape. A young blonde woman was sobbing uncontrollably into the chest of a man whose features were stoically set in harsh lines, the side of his face bandaged. A slight tinge of blood had seeped through the white gauze. A young man was staring, eyes wide and mouth gaping at the open door, his hands shaking. 

"The events that transpired here tonight are brutal in every sense of the word. The police will not allow us to move our cameras into the hotel room but if you look inside," the camera angle changed so you could just barely make out what was inside the room, "you can see the feet of the woman that was killed on the bed.

"We have been told that the young couple died of knife wounds. Also, the young man's back was broken." The news man turned to the camera slowly, his face a perfect mask of indifference.

"A young woman was seen leaving the premises at the time of the murder. Police are searching for her, and she is the prime suspect at the time. This is a computer generated image of the woman compiled by eye witnesses."

A 3-D rendering of Rain appeared on the screen and James knew he'd found his quarry.

"The woman is believed to be armed and dangers," the man was saying. "If you see her, do not approach her. Contact your local police department and let them handle everything."

James flipped off the HV and went to bed. He laid beneath the blankets, a smug smile playing over his lips. _I've got her_, he thought to himself. _Too bad those saps pissed her off before I got here, though._

------

Riddick stood as far away from the cameras as possible. No one had noticed him, and he wanted to keep it that way. Rain's little "example" had left quite a mess.

Anne had walked in on Nick and Gina's bodies a few hours ago. Everyone had just thought they were sleeping in, but then Anne had gotten worried and opened the door. She was sobbing into Walker's chest right now.

Shooting a disgusted look at the police, Riddick turned on his heel and slipped back into his room. He went to the window and looked down. It was only a ten foot drop or so, he calculated. He shoved the window up, swung his legs over the edge, and jumped down, landing in a crouch and rolling on his shoulder to absorb the shock. 

He popped back up onto his feet and began looking for traces of Rain's scent. Riddick sniffed her out easily, even among the other smells of the city, and quickly found himself standing at the door of Rhea's Ring. It looked dingy and run down, but he knew that didn't matter. There were always worse places you'd stayed in if you'd been a Ranger.

Riddick shoved open the door and stepped inside. A bored looking desk clerk sat behind the counter, an old paperback book in his hands. The man looked up from his book for moment and then back down.

"Looking for a woman named Rain," Riddick stated, stepping up to the counter.

The man studiously ignored him, and Riddick drew his shiv and used the sharp point to push the book down.

The man's eyes were wide now and he hurriedly gave Riddick directions to the room.

------

Rain sat on her bed, watching the beat up HV. She'd spotted the news about the bar fight. The guys had obviously been too embarrassed to say a woman had beat them all down. She smirked as one man recounted the sheer size of the attacker. Rain looked down at herself critically. She was tall for a woman, but no where near six foot five. More like five foot seven... and definitely female, not male.

Rain's head shot up when she felt the familiar presence of Riddick and then her door was flung open and he stood there, looking slightly annoyed. Fear crept through her, despite herself.

She might be strong and fast, but she knew if it came right down to it, Riddick would win in a fight between them.

She rolled backwards away from him on the bed, folding herself into a carefully crouched position, her hand resting on the handle of her blade. "Is there a problem, Riddick?" she asked, watching him carefully. There was something wrong. He hadn't seemed mad after she'd killed the young couple, but he seemed angry, or at least disturbed, now.

Riddick leaned against the doorjamb nonchalantly, watching Rain. She was coiled to spring if the need arose, but he only watched her, making no attempt to attack her.

He stepped forward into the room and gently closed the door. "They found Nick and Gina," he said slowly.

She wasn't surprised. "I knew they would be found sooner or later. Sooner is less than pleasant, but it can't be helped."

"How are you gonna deal with that? They have a 3-D rendition of you and it's posted all over the HV. Probably being stuck to every flat surface in the area by now, too." He watched her, but still no emotion showed on her face.

"I've got plans. You sound almost worried about me. Are you?" she asked, only half teasing.

He shrugged. "I know what they'll do to you when The Company finds out you've been captured. They'll send someone over here pronto to collect you, and then you'll either be executed or locked up in Slam for all eternity." His face changed abruptly, becoming a hard mask. "That's not something I'd wish on you." He sneered. "But I would wish it on some other choice people."

Rain nodded slightly.

"Speaking of my plans," she suddenly said. "I need to check on the operator."

Rain slid off the bed gracefully and made to step by him to the door. Her head spun as she suddenly found herself pinned against the wall, Riddick's hard body pressed against hers and his hands flattened against the wall on either side of her head.

She was trapped.

"What are you doing?" she breathed. He was so close she could feel his hot breath sliding across her cheek.

Riddick leaned his face in close then drew back before leaning in again. He breathed in the scent of her hair and skin, and she knew he could smell her fear. Knew he could feel it in his head. 

"You're afraid," he whispered, inhaling her scent again. "Most days, I'd take that as a compliment, but today I want you to realize that I'm far from your biggest problem."

A feeling of the familiar washed over her. Something in his face. She didn't know what it was, but it had her thinking he suddenly looked like her mother. Shaking the feeling way, she asked, "What's my biggest problem?"

"Getting of this rock," he answered, once again leaning in and out, his nearness intimidating her. "Findin' a way off this rock. The Company."

She nodded, swallowing hard. "I know. But I've got one and two covered."

"Do you?"

"Uh huh. I do. And I could make sure everything is panning out all right if you'd move." The last was said with a touch of annoyance, and Rain wondered if she'd be forced to surge his mind with ugly images.

A look that Rain couldn't decipher crossed Riddick's face and then he stepped away, his hands dropping to his sides. He stood a few feet away and she felt the mental distance that was quickly separating them.

She took in a deep breath and shoved her tangled hair out of her face.

"Remember what I said," he growled darkly.

She nodded, and with a swiftness she was just beginning to understand, he was gone.


	13. Lift Off

****

13. Lift Off 

Ven eyed the ship appreciatively. It was nice. Very nice. Something even Gin would be proud to fly in. The thought of her sister brought a sharp pain to her heart and she shut it off, but not before wondering where her sister was. If she was safe. It had been six years since she'd last seen Gin, and that was a long time to be looking for someone. 

Brand laid a hand on her shoulder and she covered it with her own, knowing he sensed her pain. Years of depending on each other had practically linked their minds. She hated that he'd had to grow up so fast. He was only fourteen, he should be having fun, not worrying where he was going to get his next meal, who he might have to kill next.

She patted his hand and motioned for him to board the ship and followed him in. He sat in the pilot's seat and shot her a questioning look. She'd been teaching him how to pilot for a while now, and he was good, a real natural like everyone else in the family. She nodded and Brand shot her an appreciative grin, starting up the ship with speed and a deft touch. It hummed to life and the gentle purr of the engines was comforting. Ven dropped into the co-pilot's seat and threw a tired arm over her eyes.

The ship lifted off and turned gently in the direction of the landing pad nearest the hotel. Rain was waiting for her ride and they needed her help if they were going to find Gin. Before they landed Ven saw Riddick exiting the hotel, his face expressionless and impassive, as usual. He obviously knew Rain was there, but why he'd come was beyond her. _Oh, well_, she thought indifferently and pointed out the clearing to Brand where he could set down. They landed with a gentle thud and he flicked off the controls easily before opening the hatch.

"You're a natural, kiddo," she praised, ruffling his dark hair. The thick strands settled back into place and he shook his long bangs back from his eyes. 

"Thanks, sis."

They walked up to Rain's room quietly and she opened the door before they could knock, Ven's hand still poised to do just that. Rain lifted a dark questioning brow.

"I got it. Nice one, too. Packed?" Ven asked.

Rain nodded and stepped back into her room, leaving the door wide for them. She slung a black canvas back pack over her shoulders and followed them outside. 

The minute they stepped outside there was a grunt and shove and Rain found herself thrown backwards violently. She crashed through the glass door and rolled away just as the sharp shards crashed down around her. She cried out in pain as more than one knife-like splice of glass pierced her skin through her shirt, and a shot rang out through the air. And then another.

When she finally was able to get up she saw Brand rolling on the ground beneath a large man holding a gun. Brand was grasping the man's wrists in both his hands and forcing the gun away. Ven lay on the ground, either dead or unconscious, blood pooling around her still form on the pavement.

With a howl of rage and pain Rain dived on the man, pulling her blade in a swift move. She jammed it down into the man's shoulder, looking for the spot that would kill him. She screamed in frustration when it hit the collarbone and stopped. Rain twisted it futilely in an effort to get it to slide deeper, but all it did was tear the man's skin.

He let go of Brand and she pulled the blade out going for another stab, but he turned beneath her, using his superior strength to pull away. She cried out as her back arched, pressing the glass deeper into her mutilated flesh. Ven was moving slightly, reaching ever so slowly for her revolver, which was strapped to her right hip. Brand pulled his own blade and sliced at the man, raking the sharp edge along the man's throat. Hot blood spurted out across his face and he reached down for his sister, pulling her upwards with all he had left.

Ven staggered weakly to her feet, her hand hanging near the revolver, but no longer making a move to grab it. Rain glanced at them as they turned and stumbled toward the ship not far away. Making a split second decision, Rain limped after them, leaving the man on the ground, grasping his bleeding throat with both hands.

A few minutes later they were all piled on board Ven's new ship. Brand hauled himself into the pilot's seat while Rain and Ven collapsed on the floor, breathing raggedly. He shot them both a worried a glance before forcing his mind back onto the problem on hand. He didn't know where they were going so he just punched up the star map and looked for the nearest inhabitable planet. With the coordinates in mind, he stabbed the numbers in and lifted off, leaving the atmosphere with a burst of speed. Once they cleared the atmosphere, Brand turned on the auto-pilot.

He stumbled over to his sister, who's breathing was impossibly shallow. Blood was flowing from her like a river and he cried out as if the pain were his own. Rain stared at him from cold green eyes that glittered like emerald chips, laying on her stomach, the glass shards sticking prominently out of her back.

"Pull this glass out of my back," she whispered, almost inaudibly. Brand shot her a look that said plainly, why? "Pull them out and I'll patch her up. Trust me, kid, I know what I'm doin'."

Brand complied after a moment's hesitation. He grasped the shards in his hand one at a time and yanked them out, Rain hissing her displeasure as they pulled out of her skin. 

"You're gonna have to cut the back of my shirt away and check the wounds. Make sure there's nothin' in 'em." Her voice was slightly slurred from the pain, there having been seven different shards ripped into her flesh.

Brand pulled his blade and cut the black shirt away from her skin. He shoved his hair away from his face. He pulled the edges of each cut apart so he could see inside. Most of them were clean, but a few had broken chips inside of them and he stuck his fingers into them to pull it out, eliciting sharp cries from Rain. When her back was free of glass he got the first aid kit and swabbed her back with antiseptic then slapped bandages on each cut.

He found another shirt in her bag and tossed it to her. She sat up slowly and turned her back to him while she pulled the new shirt on over her head. When she felt she could stand up again she turned to Brand. He was clasping the area just below his left shoulder and she saw the blood pouring from the gunshot wound she hadn't noticed before. Brand gazed back at her through glazed gold eyes.

His face was drawn and pale and he turned to stare at his rapidly fading sister. "Fix her," he choked out, then collapsed on the floor.

Rain let out a cry of frustration and checked his wound quickly. She probed the inside with a finger feeling for bone fragments and any other sort of shrapnel. It was clean, having passed all the way through and she swabbed it then rapped it. She'd move him somewhere better but she doubted she could carry him anywhere. He was a big kid.

She turned to Ven and ripped open the younger woman's shirt with her blade. The bullet had entered her chest and the bleeding had slowed slightly. Rain rolled her over to check her back. _Damn_, she thought, _no exit wound. Now what?_

She didn't have much medical training and she didn't know if she could or should open Ven up to poke around. Rain dug through the med kit and found something long, metallic and unfamiliar. Figuring it would do, she stuck in Ven's wound and probed around. She found the bullet wedged into a rib. Looked like it might have bounced around in there, but she couldn't do anything about that except hope it hadn't hit any major organs. When they landed she'd find a doctor to patch them all up appropriately, but until then she was on her own.

She found a clamp and a scalpel in the kit and sliced a line across the bullet hole. Then she stuck the clamp in the edges so she could pull them apart. Ven moaned and opened her eyes to stare dully at Rain. Rain murmured an apology and hit Ven in the jaw, hard, knocking her unconscious again. It would be easier if Ven couldn't feel what Rain was going to do.

She had to widen the cut even more and let out a choked sound when she could clearly see the bone and the bullet embedded in it. Rain knew what she'd have to do to get it out. _I'm a killer not made for staring at other peoples innards_, she told herself sadistically. 

She reached in, grasped the rib fully in both hands and yanked upwards. The bone broke in half cleanly where the bullet had been. The bullet dropped onto Ven's lungs and Rain grabbed a large metallic thing that looked like giant tweezers, grasped the bullet and pulled it out. Then she pressed the bones close together again, closed the flaps of the wound, and began suturing it shut. It didn't look like anything had been bleeding in there, but that didn't mean anything. Rain was afraid that Ven wouldn't make it to wherever they were headed.

When Ven was properly bandaged up she adjusted Brand into a more comfortable looking position and stretched out on the floor. They'd all lost a lot of blood, but it was only a few hours to the planet they were heading for.

__

Not much longer, she told herself as unconsciousness beat at her, and she let it win, falling into a deep sleep.

------

Gince Wolf raised her brows at the man next to her. He was her target and she was going to take him in, but he didn't have to know that just yet. For the price on his head she'd almost consider sleeping with him to bring him in, but she doubted that would be necessary.

He grinned at her and reached out to touch the smooth skin of her cheek, stroking it tenderly. His eyes leered at her and she forced herself to smile into them innocently. Being a merc had its perks, but this wasn't one of them. 

Four hours and a serious drinking contest later, Gin played drunk and stumbled out of the bar with her arm around the man's waist and his thrown heavily about her shoulders. He sought her mouth for a sloppy kiss and she permitted it, making herself cooperate and almost wishing it was easier for her to get drunk so she wouldn't remember this later.

She led him to her bike and whispered some sort of sexual innuendo which he grinned at drunkenly. He thought they were going to her place to roll in the sack, but he had another thing coming.

The sleep agent would kick in soon and he would be pliable as a rag doll and just as easy to tow in to her newest boss.

A few more hours passed and the man woke up to a place that didn't have a bed. Dim green light filtered into his room and he blinked slowly. He dimly remembered a beautiful blonde dressed in black, drinking him under the table and promises of sex. He didn't think he'd gotten any of the later.

Suddenly her face appeared in the doorway. "Ah, you're awake then," she murmured in that low voice that had first captured his attention.

"Where am I?" he asked her.

"You're on board my ship," she told him.

He shook his head. "Your ship. I don't understand, where are we going?"

She sat on the edge of his cot and looked at him through slightly glowing silver eyes. "You're going to prison and I'm getting paid to bring you there. I'm sorry, babe, but you ain't goin' anywhere fun."

"Prison?" Everything felt foggy. More than a hangover. "Did you drug me?" he slurred. She nodded slowly and his head spun. "What's your name?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you that."

"You know who I am?" She nodded again.

"Kris Jacobs," she said, stating his name and proving she knew exactly who he was.

He groaned. "Oh, God." He'd try and deal with this in the morning.


	14. The Hospital

****

14. The Hospital

Pounding. Loud, insistent, annoying. Rain twitched and groaned, turning and trying to ignore the pounding. Pounding. Louder, more insistent, annoying, warranting death to whoever was causing it.

Rain planted her hands on the floor and stood up, drawing her blade before starting to the hatch. She slammed her palm against the button and it opened slowly. A group of curious natives stared at her and she snarled, brandishing the blade. Her back burned and she wasn't even sure if Ven and Brand were even alive anymore.

"Get me a doctor!" she bellowed. Someone was projecting strong emotion and now her head ached as she forced up a mental wall to block it. They all stared at her wide-eyed and she leapt forward menacingly, ignoring the burning pain in her back. "I said, GET ME A DOCTOR!"

A young woman jumped to attention and ran off in the direction of the settlement Rain could see beyond the rubbernecking crowd.

The curious crowd watched as Rain disappeared back into the ship. Inside Brand was sitting up over Ven, clasping the bandage around his shoulder tightly. Blood leaked down his arm steadily and his face was deathly white. Ven looked worse. Rain rushed over to them and knelt next to Brand. He looked up at her, tears in his golden eyes.

"Is she going to die?" he questioned in a throaty whisper.

Rain shook her head. "I don't know, kiddo. There's a doctor on the way. I only hope I did the right thing when I removed the bullet last night."

Brand nodded and turned to look back at his sister, a single tear escaping his tight control and slipping down his cheek to splash on the floor next to his other hand.

At that moment Rain realized that despite everything Brand was and everything she felt he'd done in his short life, he was still a little boy who would be very alone without his big sister. Rain set her hand on Brand's good shoulder and he turned to look at her. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she lives, Brand. All right?"

He nodded again and suddenly there was a man standing in the doorway. "I'm the doctor," he stated quietly as Rain rose to her feet, once again brandishing her knife and standing between him and Brand.

"Can you fix her?" Brand asked, standing next to Rain, his good hand resting unconsciously on the handle of his own blade, his stance defensive.

"You got a hell of a bleeder there, kid," the doctor answered, avoiding Brand's question.

Brand's hand tightened on the knife. "Don't patronize me, Doc. I'll live, she might not be so lucky. Now I'll ask you again. Can you fix her?"

The man's eyes narrowed and he shot a questioning look at Rain. "You better answer the boy, Mister. He'll kill you as soon as look at you."

"I'll take a look at her." The doctor stepped forward and Brand stepped between him and Ven. "Kid, I can't help her if you won't move." Brand didn't budge, still grasping the knife handle at his hip. The man shoved an impatient hand through his hair. "My name's Sam. What's your name, kid?"

Brand relaxed visibly, although Rain didn't understand what had changed. "Brand. And I don't trust anyone until they offer their name." He paused. "Sam," he tacked on finally.

The man nodded, patted Brand on the shoulder and stepped around him to kneel next to Ven's prone form. He checked the tight stitches Rain had made and shot her a look. "You did this?" he asked.

Rain nodded. "She was dying," she answered quietly. "It was all I could think of to do."

"Did you get the bullet out?" Rain nodded again. "Internal bleeding?" he questioned. 

"I don't think so, but I had to break her rib to get the bullet out. It was embedded deep."

Sam nodded then gestured over Brand's shoulder to another man who entered holding a stretcher. They carefully loaded Ven onto it and carried her out, Brand and Rain close behind.

Brand shielded his eyes from the extremely bright sun, growling as it seared his eyes. Someone noticed his reaction to it and handed him a pair of dark glasses which he donned gladly.

The two men carried Ven into a stark white structure with cool white walls and a sterile smell. Brand bared his teeth slightly and Rain heard the growl in his throat and for once picked up on some of what he was feeling. It was frustration and a panicky fear. She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and he jerked his head around to look at her. Rain shot him soothing feelings and images and he relaxed beneath her hand.

"Thank you," he said quietly looking up at her, and Rain felt a warmth spread through her she'd never felt for any other living thing. She felt human.

Rain shrank away from the feeling of letting someone touch that part of her, but hid it from Brand. He didn't need to know he'd just scared the crap out of her. Rain shook the feeling off and followed the ever silent Ven on her white stretcher into a medical room.

"We're gonna give her some X-rays to see if anything's still in there, all right, Brand?" Sam was asking, and Brand nodded numbly and slumped into a chair, once again clasping the wounded shoulder.

A young female doctor approached Brand and laid a hand on his shoulder. He jerked away and snarled at her forbiddingly, causing her to jump back in surprise and fear. "Sorry," he mumbled and she stepped closer cautiously.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked him. Rain watched as Brand answered her questions and the young woman tried to persuade him into going into another room to have his shoulder looked at.

Brand bared his teeth at her and his threatening demeanor rolled off him in waves as she tried to placate him into going. "I will NOT leave Ven, lady. And if you try and make me, you'll regret it. You wanna help me? You do it right here." His hand rested on his knife lightly, and Rain felt the tension he kept tightly in check. If that lady tried to get him to leave his post she was in for a world of hurt. Rain wouldn't interfere. The woman had been warned.

"All right," the woman answered, stepping back, her hands held in front of her. She made to head for supplies and Rain reached out mentally to see what the woman was really doing. Something didn't feel quite right.

"... that boy... cooperate. Should bring... that room to get patched... Won't move..." was all Rain could pick up at that distance and with so much interference. The woman was going to force Brand to move, though. Rain gathered that.

Brand's eyes were closed lightly and his hand still rested on his knife. Blood was flowing freely from the wound again, dripping to form a small crimson puddle on the floor.

The woman returned with a two large men in white uniforms in tow. Rain found a comfortable spot to watch. This was going to be ugly and not for Brand. Rain felt that even she wouldn't want to mess with that kid.

The two men flanked Brand and Rain felt the conscious effort of his will to stay still as they reached for his arms. Just as the man to his right reached out and his fingers brushed Brand's arm, Brand launched himself forward and down, rolling on his good shoulder. He drew his knife and he rolled to his feet and turned on the woman who stood stock still. He wrapped his bad arm around her waist and pressed the blade into her throat. 

"What did I tell you, lady?" he hissed into her ear and she grasped at the arm holding the knife to her throat vainly. "I should kill you right now." The woman shook against him. Although Brand was only fourteen he was a head taller than the woman and much stronger. "I said I'll stay here." He pushed the woman away from him and one of the men advanced on him. Brand crouched into a pouncing position and waited for the man to make his move.

The man leapt at him, reaching for Brand's blade and cried out as Brand ducked beneath and jabbed him hard in the kidney with his right hand, still clasping his knife in the left. "Do that again," Brand growled, "and I'll break your ribs." 

Not seeming to be paying attention, the man tried attacking Brand again. Brand pivoted on his left foot and landed a punishing kick to the man's ribs. There was an audible crack and snapping noise that everyone heard before the man dropped to the floor, moaning in agony.

"And you?" Brand asked the woman and the man still standing. They dashed away and ten minutes later Sam was towing Ven out of the x-ray room, his companion not far behind.

"What happened here?" Sam demanded to know. Rain was surprised a group of people hadn't showed up to lock her and Brand up, but no one had come and the wounded man rolled on the floor, groaning.

"They tried to make me move," Brand answered. "I told them not to. That I'd break his ribs. He didn't listen. He was warned."

Sam stared at Brand, mouth agape and then shot a panicked look at Rain. "He's tellin' the truth, Sam," Rain said quietly. "If you try to do anything to him for it, I'll wipe out this town." With that she left to go back to the ship. She needed some weapons in case anyone messed with Brand.

------

Gin Wolf stared at her prisoner, watching him absently. He was beginning to smell. She told him so.

"Well, lady, what do you want me to do about it? You've had me locked up for three days. I suppose I'm lucky you let me use the bathroom," Kris Jacobs snarled back.

"No need to get your panties in a twist, Krissy," she answered calmly, flipping through the pages of the paperback book in her hands.

Jacobs shook his head. "When my boys find out who you are, you're dead. And it'll be slow." He leered at her suggestively.

Gin shrugged a single shoulder and lifted her dark brows at him. "Honey, I'm only half your trip. I have to drop you off. I have other leads to follow."

He shook his head again. "Don't worry. You'll both get yours."


	15. Losing Time

****

15. Losing Time

James watched as the ship took off in a cloud of dust. He watched blood splatter on the ground around him and forced himself upwards. He had to get to the hospital or he'd bleed to death. The kid had missed his jugular by a millimeter... If that. James was lucky to be alive. He hadn't known Rain had anyone working with her, but he should have. He'd been unprepared and might end up paying for it with his life.

He stumbled into the hotel and growled at the old man behind the counter to call an ambulance before collapsing on the floor. He woke up in a mend chamber. He reached for his throat and felt that the cut was gone. His shoulder didn't feel ready to explode anymore either. James leaned his head back against the wall and stared out at the white walls beyond the clear chamber. A young doctor watched him and leaned over to speak into a microphone. 

"How are you feeling, Sir?" The young man's voice slid into the chamber and James flashed a thumbs up. The doctor flipped a few switches on a board near the door and the glass door lifted to let him out.

James opened his mouth to speak and found he couldn't. He cupped his throat and shot the doctor a panicked look. "Oh, sir, that. When your throat was cut it damaged a lot of your vocal cords. You will be able to speak, but the mend chamber has a lot of trouble with delicate things like that. You'll always have scars from the attack and your voice will be scratchy, more than likely. Another hour in the chamber and you'll be close to normal, though, if that's what you'd like?"

James nodded numbly, still covering his throat and slept off another hour in the mend chamber. When he woke up the doctor was there again and this time he was able to speak. "I have to get out of here," he rasped impatiently.

"Of course, sir. Right away. I'll have a ride ready to take you wherever you need to be." James nodded and dressed back in his clothes, removing the flimsy paper gown he'd been dressed in.

Two hours later he was airborne and hot on Rain's trail. He had a fix on her location and his ship was a lot faster than hers. This would be over in thirty-six hours.

------

Gin Wolf sat at the bar with her friend and sipped her whiskey around her grin. Drey laughed out loud and slapped his thigh.

"So that's how you caught him?" he questioned incredulously. 

"Can you imagine? One of the galaxies toughest criminals and all it took to break him was my feminine whiles?" Gin answered, downing the whiskey in a quick gulp.

"Damn, woman, I didn't think you had it in you to use that one... Shoulda known better. You deserve extra for almost having to fornicate with that bastard though," Drey stated solemnly... before cracking up again.

"Okay! Okay!" Gin begged. "My ribs are starting to hurt. So are you gonna take this jerk off my hands, or what? I'm getting sick of his threats and leering. He's annoying."

"All right, I'll haul his ass over to HQ, but whatever you're lookin' for better be good."

"Oh, it is, Drey. It is." Gin stood up and extended her hand to Drey. 

"Hope to see you again sometime soon, Reese. You take care, all right?"

"Will do, buddy. I'll chain Jacobs to your cargo and you can pick him up whenever. He'll live a few more hours without food or water." They laughed again and Gin headed for her ship.

When she entered Kris was swearing a blue streak. Running her up one side and down the other with words that would make most peoples ears burn. She shrugged it off with her usual nonchalant attitude and checked his locks.

"Time for you to switch owners, animal," she said, grabbing the lead around his neck and dragging him after her down the ship's cargo ramp. He tried to tug away and she yanked hard, pulling him to his knees. "Now, now. Let's not play this game. I think you'll like my friend. He has a solar shower and now you can get clean."

Gin dragged him over to Drey's ship and found the cargo stacked up beside his cargo hatch to be loaded on board later. She chained him to a stack of heavy metal boxes then pulled a gun out of her thigh holster. "Run," she ordered.

Kris stared at her as if she were crazy. Gin rolled her eyes and sighed. "I said, RUN!"

Kris took off running and was brought short on his chain, falling to the ground. The boxes didn't budge. Gin replaced her revolver and grinned. "Perfect. You're not goin' anywhere. At least until my buddy turns up. Then you're going to prison for a very long time. Have a shitty life!" she called and strode away. Now to find Ven and Brand.

------

"Brand." Brand turned at the sound of his name. He lifted one dark brow and sat up straight. Sam sat down next to him. "Don't worry about that guy, kid. All the burly guys in uniform at criminals. They're on a work project for this town. We give them training and they work the hard cases. That way if they have any... 'accidents' parse no one cares. It was just cheaper than executing them."

Brand nodded. "Is Ven gonna live?"

"Oh, yeah. Ven is gonna be fine. Your pretty friend patched her up real well. She's in a mend chamber right now getting the healing treatment. She'll be good as new in two hours."

Brand sighed and slumped backwards in his chair. "Thank you, Sam." Then he passed out.

------

Rain stood outside the two matching chambers. No one knew about her back. She didn't know if she trusted mend chambers. Nothing good old fashion bandages and stitches couldn't fix... well, sorta.

Ven would be out in a half hour, and Brand in one full hour. Her back burned. Sam was watching her curiously and she bristled beneath his gaze.

"What?" she finally demanded, turning on him. He withdrew and she felt the usual stab of fear when people saw her eyes.

"Nothing. You just seem... tired. Were you wounded with them?" he asked, regaining his confidence.

Rain shrugged. "Nothing major."

"Can I see?" he asked.

Another shrug. "Sure." Rain turned her back to him and whipped off her shirt. She heard him suck in a sharp breath. 

"Those are bleeding... And there's a lot of them."

"So?" She pulled her shirt back on and turned to face him.

"You wanna let me take a look at them?"

"You just did," she stated, turning back to the mend chambers to keep watch on Ven and Brand. Brand mostly. She wished he was her little brother. That Ven was her sister. That they were looking for her and that they'd finally all found each other. She hoped Gin knew how lucky she was.

"Those need treatment or they're gonna get infected."

"I need to keep an eye on Brand," she answered stoically. She refused to leave the kid alone in that tube.

Sam turned Rain to face him. "No you don't. He's fine in there, and Ven will be up in twenty minutes. She can watch him when she wakes up."

Deciding that her back did hurt a lot and that Sam was definitely attractive, she let him lead her away. Eye candy had always made her feel better. He directed her to take off her shirt and lay face down on the padded examination table. She did as he said and felt him begin to remove the bandages.

"Damn, woman, these are bad. Who cleaned them?"

"Brand," she answered, feeling she should defend the kid. He'd done the best he could in his condition.

"No wonder. He was half dead himself. At least he got all the fragments of whatever it was out. What did this, anyway?" Sam questioned, gathering stuff to clean her back with.

"I was pushed through a glass door. It came down on my back." Rain hissed as he applied something that stung to her back.

"Sorry. A door, you say? Damn lucky to be alive, aren't you? Don't suppose I could talk you into climbing in one of those mend chambers, could I? It would only take ten to twenty minutes to fix you up." He started on another cut.

"No," she growled. "These aren't that serious. Clean, stitch, bandage. Whatever. Just finish it and let me go back to Brand."

Sam bandaged up the two cuts he'd cleaned already. "You really care about that kid, don't you?" he asked.

Rain froze. "He patched me up," she answered, avoiding his probing question.

"Naw, it's more than that. You practically ignore Ven compared to the boy. But you care about her, too. No relation to them, though, I don't think. Am I right?"

"You're right." She lifted a shoulder. "And I guess I care about him." It felt weird, she thought to herself. Saying those words out loud. She'd never cared about anyone. Maybe she finally could.


	16. The Capture

****

16. The Capture

"Rain, wake-up." 

Rain's lids fluttered open to stare into deep golden eyes and a shock of black hair over a dark forehead. "Brand. You're better," Rain mumbled sleepily, sitting up quickly and shoving her hair from her face. She reached out and touched his young face lightly. "Ven? Where is she?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, and so's Ven. Are you?" Rain saw genuine concern in his young face and felt warmth suffuse throughout her body. No one had ever cared about her before. She liked it.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She shoved herself off the table to her feet.

"C'mon. I'll take you to Ven." Brand led her through the white halls to what looked like a cafeteria.

Ven was sitting at a table with three trays of food in front of her. She grinned at Rain. "Food," she said as Rain sat across from her, and Brand next to his sister.

Rain leaned over the tray in front of her and sniffed appreciatively. "Real food," she breathed.

They all dug into their meals appreciatively. None of them had eaten for close to three days. The food was hot and although it was hospital food, it was the best meal they'd ever had. Or at least seemed like it at the moment.

Full and content to sit still for a moment, the strange companions conversed quietly over the table. Rain felt herself opening up to the pair and discovered she even liked them... and talking to people normally for once. She was free for the time being and sitting here with people was nice and refreshing. Rain wanted this for herself. She'd left the Rangers. Maybe now she could have a normal life, and maybe she could start with staying with Ven and Brand. Live in a real house. Maybe meet a nice guy, forget her past and all the things she'd done. Start over.

"... so we'll leave in an hour," Ven was saying and Rain snapped her attention back to the present.

"Uh, right. All my stuff is still on the ship and so your guys' stuff. So we can grab some food and head on outta here, right?" Rain questioned as they all stood to their feet.

Ven nodded. "We have to pay, though. For once I think I'll do things conventionally and avoid further notice. Lemme give Sam the creds and we'll begin checking supplies on the ship before we leave."

"Okay. Me and Brand will meet you back at the ship." Rain turned to Brand. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's get workin'." She slung her arm around his shoulder and they walked away.

Ven grinned to herself. Rain was getting soft for her little brother and Brand was taking to Rain like the sister he missed so much. They had to find Gin. Gin would like Rain, and Ven was sure Rain would like Gin. Rain seemed to want to be free of the whole Company mess as much her and Brand did. Maybe she could come with them. There was always room in the Wolf misfit family. Nothing like a fellow Company reject to keep the atmosphere warm and friendly.

------

Rain handed the list to Brand and they began checking things off for their journey. "Where are we goin' anyways?" Brand asked.

"After your big sister if I remember correctly. Last I heard of her she was headin' to some place called Dres-Aries. Do you know it?" Rain questioned.

"Beans?"

"Check."

"Dres? Really? Shit, Rain, me and Ven were just there! That's where we came from! Jerky?"

"Check. Don't worry about it. This was a while ago. About six months, I'd guess. And if you were there, you know Dres is a good sized planet. She coulda landed at any one of the colonies. Or even one of the bigger settler cities."

"Water?" Brand checked off jerky from the list.

"Check," Rain answered.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But what if she was lookin' for us? And we missed her? We shoulda stayed with Jack... we told Riddick we'd look after her..." he trailed off.

"Riddick?" Rain asked sharply.

"Uh, yeah. Big bald guy from the Ring Cruiser? He dropped off a girl my age on Dres and we said we'd take care of her. But that was almost a year ago. We just left there a month or so ago. She can take care of herself."

"I know who Riddick is. We've met, for lack of a better word." Brand raised a dark brow at her. Rain looked away. "What do you know about Riddick?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Nothin' really. He just showed up one day on Dres. Dropped off Jack, askin' if we'd take care of her. Ven said no problem, but we didn't know how long we'd be there. Riddick said that was fine, waved to Jack and took off again. Said he was lookin' for someone but didn't bother to mention who. Then we go and run into him on the Ring Cruiser where you were prisoner. Jack says Riddick is a slam escapee." Brand looked down at he supply list in his hands, pen ready. "Hydrated crap?"

Rain held up a box that said "Full syth-meal, just add water." At least it wasn't in a tube. "Check."

------

James saw the small town loom over the horizon and set down quickly. The sun was low but still bright and he recognized the ship Rain had taken off in. He walked over to it cautiously and looked around. No one in sight.

Rain walked next to Ven as the three of them got ready to board the ship and take off. A sharp, malicious force entered the edges of her mind and she grabbed Brand by the shoulders and yanked him back behind a building. Ven shot her a sharp look and Rain motioned her to follow them.

They hid behind the building together and Ven and Brand stared at her questioningly. "Someone is hear. I think its that guy that got us back on Rhea," Rain whispered.

Ven cursed sotto voce and peaked around the corner. "Now what?"

"I think he's after me. He looks Ranger. Chances are he could be after you two, though. Catching the famous Ranger killin' family would look good on his record. But I'm pretty sure it's me he's after.

"Ven, you go out there. He might not recognize you. If he does, holler. I'll come runnin'," Rain directed.

Ven nodded and headed out.

James turned in time to see a tall blonde woman coming towards him. She was heavily armed but didn't look threatening. Her long hair was pulled back into a low pony tail at the base of her neck and she smiled at him. Something seemed familiar about her.

"Hey there, little lady. Do you know who owns this ship?" James asked, spreading the charm on thick.

"Why, yes. I do. It's mine. What do you want with it?" Ven asked, using her best friendly smile and voice on him. He thought his Ranger status would charm her. He was dead wrong. She wanted to rip out his throat with her teeth. Nothing was more hated by her then the Company and its cronies that it called Rangers.

"Yours?" he questioned.

Ven nodded. "Mine. What do you want with it?"

"Couldn't be. Everyone flying this thing was half dead and bleeding when I saw them last. You look fine," James answered.

Ven knew he hadn't looked so good either when they'd left him. His throat had been slashed. His voice was raspy now, and there was a wicked scar that stretched across his throat. "Mend chamber, buddy." Ven drew her blade in one hand and pulled her revolver with the other. "And I owe you a bullet in the chest. Rain!"

Rain heard Ven call for her and took off, Brand beside her. They both pulled their blades and guns and stood next to Ven. 

"Rain. Ranger number 1081983-DLS, you are under arrest by order of The Company. You need to give up your weapons and come with me," James stated, trying to sound confident in the face of this woman who hadn't looked half so dangerous in her picture. Her green eyes blazed defiantly at him and she looked ready to spring. He felt a strange fear enter his mind and strange images flashed behind his eyes.

"I don't think so, pal. The three of us are going to board that ship, and we're going to kill you first. We all owe you a little something from the last time we met. Don't we, guys?" she finished, addressing Brand and Ven.

Brand bared his teeth at James and edged a bit closer. He was as tall as James and in a lot better shape, despite his youth.

"Rain! Hey, wait up! I need to ask you something!" It was Sam, and with him came distraction. In the next few seconds, everything exploded.

James dove forward, tackling Brand who had turned slightly towards Sam. His gun flew from his hand and he fell hard beneath James' much heavier weight.

"Brand!" Ven screamed his name, diving towards the two men locked in a killer's embrace on the dirt.

Rain turned on Sam. "Get the hell out of here, Sam!"

Sam hesitated, staring at the scene unfolding before him. "What's going on here?" he demanded.

"I said LEAVE! Now beat it!" Rain didn't wait to see if he followed her directions and turned to the three people twisting on the ground. 

Brand scrambled out of the melee, leaving Ven to hold off James. Rain dived in, grabbing a handful of James' hair in her fist and pulling his head back. Ven slashed viciously at his face with her blade, but missed when he pulled back his hand and slammed it into her face. She cried out and Rain was shaken from her place on his back.

They rolled on the ground some more and Rain suddenly found herself pinned beneath Ven on her stomach, James crushing them both to the ground. Brand reached for her hand and she grabbed it, letting him pull her out, then they both turned on James and Ven. There was a scream as James finally wrestled the gun from Ven's iron grasp and pistol whipped her across the temple with it. She went limp beneath him and James stood to face Brand and Rain, leaving Ven's limp form on the ground.

"Ven!" Brand cried and tried to rush to her side but James tackled him again. 

Rain dove in and suddenly there was a gun shot. Molten heat seeped into Rain's stomach and she removed her hand from her abdomen where she'd grabbed it compulsively. It came away sticky and red and she looked up into James' face. Brand launched himself at him but caught a hit in the head same as his sister, falling unconscious to the ground.

"Shit," Rain breathed, looking back at the blood quickly slipping out of her. "And just when I was getting good." She looked up at James. "You killed me, you bastard." 

------

Riddick sat on the bed in Rain's room and looked around slowly. She'd been gone a while now. Who knows where she'd gone? Ven and Brand had disappeared, too. But where? Too many questions to be answered. Something was going on, but he didn't have time to figure out what. He'd just gotten a lead. He was very close to finding Gin Wolf.

****


	17. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

Rain knew the bullet had entered her stomach and could do nothing as she watched James step away from her. It was going to end like this, then. Shot in the stomach because she had actually cared about someone. Everyone was right; caring did get you killed. She tried to laugh and blood spurted from her lips instead, leaving a coppery taste in her mouth. She cried out, still clutching her stomach. "Oh, crap. This sucks," she said finally and felt James tangle his hand in her hair and begin to pull her across the dirt. 

She dimly saw Ven and Brand sprawled on the ground. She'd never see them again. She'd never see Riddick again, and for some reason that she didn't understand, she knew she had to. There was something about him. Something that suggested maybe she wasn't alone in the universe after all. Tears welled in her eyes and slid down her cheeks, creating wet paths through the dirt on her face to drip off her chin. 

"Damn you, Ranger," she whispered. He shook her head and she cried out in pain. "I'm sorry," she murmured, speaking to everyone she'd hurt. And she meant it. She was sorry for letting the Ranger hurt Brand and Ven. Sorry for all the things she'd done. She was sorry and it didn't matter any more, because the edges of her vision were beginning to go dark and the pain in her stomach and in her scalp were fading. It reminded her of one of those old cartoons you see on holovision, where when it's over everything fades out from the edges until it's all black. And so it ended for Rain.

The edges went black and faded out until everything disappeared.

------

Ven awoke next to Brand. The room was brightly lit and she closed her eyes quickly against it. She tried to move and found she was tied down and her bonds held when she pulled at them. She muttered a curse beneath her breath.

Brand twitched next to her. "I'm awake," he mumbled.

"Where's Rain?" Ven demanded.

"Dead, I think," he answered so quietly even Ven's ears had a hard time picking it up. She could feel his sorrow and it was echoed in her.

"Damn it," she breathed. "Where are we?"

"The Ranger's ship. We go into cryo-sleep in a twenty minutes. Are you okay?" Brand asked.

"Yeah, my head hurts though. You?" Ven cracked a lid to see that Brand had been crying. A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Fine. Same headache though. Pistol whipped us both, the bastard." Brand took a gulping breath. "And he killed Rain. I really liked her."

"Yeah, kiddo. Me, too. Do you know where we're going?"

"Crip-Ornay, Ven. We're going home."

------

She'd been grabbed in that damn bar. Asking questions didn't seem to be getting her anywhere. It did seem to get her in trouble though. Quickly.

"Lady, you fucked with the wrong guy. Now you're comin' with us, and you ain't gonna like it," the burley man standing over her said. She sneered at him.

"Big deal."

A punch in the stomach and Gin felt the air leave her lungs in a whoosh. She groaned. "Kris Jacobs is a buddy of ours. You shouldn't of fucked with him, 'cause now we're gonna fuck with you. And you're gonna get fucked up."

"Like that word, do you?" she snarled sarcastically. "Half-wit."

A kick in the ribs. "Bring the whip, Dan!" the man ordered another ape standing near the door watching. "Immediately, if not sooner."

Gin sneered in defiance. Either she had to escape or she was going to die. She hated only having two choices.

------

Riddick was two and a half weeks from Gin Wolf's last known location. He was going to find her and then he could stop running.


	18. Afterword

****

Afterword

This is the end of **Book One **of the **Hunting for Freedom Trilogy**. 

You can follow the rest of the story two ways. You can read **Book Two **next, which is titled **Deserter: New Life**. Or you can go straight to **Book Three**, titled **Freedom Found**.

I'm unsure right now, but I may write a fourth book, so be looking for that after **Freedom Found **is completely posted.

I hope you've enjoyed **Deserter** and that you'll read the rest of the Trilogy.


End file.
